Truth and Consequences (7 page)

Kathleen laid her fork down by her plate. A breeze played along the deck, lifting fern fronds, ruffling the edges of Jason’s brown hair. He ate with excellent table manners, but also with the appreciation of true hunger. They’d talked during the meal, of topics far removed from what she knew was uppermost in both of their minds.

He described some of the far-flung places the army had sent him and asked questions about novels on her shelves. He was sharply intelligent, possessed a quick wit and cut straight to the heart of a topic. Everything she liked in a man.

She just didn’t want to find it in this man.

“Why Haynes County?” she asked and watched him freeze.

He took a sip of his tea and shrugged, and she knew he was giving himself time to formulate an answer. “It’s home.”

“Jason.” He glanced at her, his green eyes guarded. “That’s not what I asked and you know it. There are other departments. Stanton Reed has been hiring left and right.”

His mouth twisted in a grim semblance of a smile. “Reed’s looking for knights in shining armor. Let’s just say my background isn’t sparkling clean enough.”

“But you don’t have to—”

“Kathleen.” He dropped his fork by his plate, the line of his jaw tight. “I’m no Tick Calvert—you know, local football hero, valedictorian, FBI award recipient. I’m just what I am. A Haynes County boy who didn’t make it so good in the real world. I needed a job and Jim Ed came through for me. I owe him.”

The words shivered through her. “Enough to lie for him?”

“I told you. I didn’t see anything.”

“I know what you told me. I want the truth.”

“The truth is that I don’t know what happened. I didn’t see it.”

She sat back. “Would you tell me if you had?”

“Do you really want me to answer that?” His mouth firmed. He glanced away, then back at her, his eyes the color of a rough sea. “Look, Kathleen, I want to see you again. But you have to take me for what I am.”

Anger flushed through her. Arrogant son of a bitch. “You’re assuming a lot, aren’t you? This wasn’t a date, Harding. I invited you to dinner because…because…”

“Let me guess. Because you felt sorry for me and you thought you’d get out of me the information you think I have.” The chair scraped against the deck and he tossed his napkin down. “Thanks for the meal, Palmer.”

He strode toward the steps. Kathleen shoved up from the table and followed. The idea was get close to him, use him to get inside Thatcher’s operation. Not piss him off and push him away. “Wait.”

“Why?” He turned on her, color high on his cheekbones. “You going to offer to screw me to get me to talk?”

Swallowing her fury, Kathleen frowned at him. “Did you mean what you said?”

Confusion glittered in his eyes. “About what?”

“About wanting to see me again.” Oh, if Altee found out about this, she was dead.

His eyebrows rose. “Yeah.”

“Good. Dinner tomorrow night. Same time.”

“You’re sure?”

No. Anything but. She nodded. “I’m sure.”

A quick nod and he was gone, bounding down the steps, handcuffs and keys jingling against his gun belt. Kathleen watched him go, dread and anticipation mingling in her stomach.

What on earth had she just done?

At Altee’s cool voice, Kathleen looked up from the witness statements she was rereading for the umpteenth time that morning. She couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t convince her mind to stop straying to Jason Harding. Her thoughts wandered to the way his cheek dimpled when he smiled or how his voice rumbled over her nerve endings, instead of considering the repercussions her actions could have, like destroying her career.

“Kath?”

After dropping the statements on her desk, Kathleen rubbed a hand over her eyes. “So who are they?”

“Runaways from Pensacola. The driver took his mom’s car the night they left. It was found abandoned in the public parking lot by the beach in Panama City, which, by the way, is where the S-10 was stolen from. The rifle? Belonged to the owner of the truck.”

“What about the handgun?”

“Neither set of parents or the truck owner reports a handgun missing.”

Kathleen shook her head. “Like anyone would admit to having an untraceable gun with the serial numbers etched off.”

“An untraceable gun with no serial number
and
no fingerprints,” Altee pointed out, her voice wry.

“It doesn’t make sense. Jim Ed’s not that sloppy.” The man was known for his meticulous behavior. The whole thing didn’t make sense. If he’d killed the boys, what was his motive?

“Maybe he’s not. Maybe someone else is. Someone not as experienced at being a corrupt son of a bitch.”

Someone like Jason Harding
.

“You said we had positive identifications?” Kathleen tried to banish the unsaid words hanging between them. What if it really wasn’t Jim Ed? What if it were Jason?

God, this case was going to make her insane before it was all over.

Altee handed her a fax printout. “Connor White, age seventeen. Heath Brannon, age fourteen. Although you might as well say fifteen. His birthday would’ve been in a couple of days.”

Two days. April 16. Heath Brannon would have been fifteen on April 16. Kathleen brushed her finger over the smudged characters. So would Everett.

He shared Everett’s birthday.

Pain crashed through her body, freezing the breath in her lungs. She refused to close her eyes, knowing if she did, she’d be confronted with an image of bright brown eyes, sparkling with laughter and golden flecks, a chubby face surrounded by russet hair.

What would that face have looked like at fifteen? Her eyes burned, and she swallowed against the tightening of her throat.

“You want to know what’s really weird?” Altee perched on the edge of her own desk.

Kathleen struggled to bring her attention back to the conversation. “What?”

“Cause of death for both boys was a gunshot wound to the head.”

“We knew that without the autopsies.”

“The wound damage couldn’t have come from that .38. Williams is willing to swear to it in court.”

“A defense attorney will argue they shot themselves with the rifle.”

Altee smiled. “See, that’s the thing. Chandler County reports two shots fired at one of their deputies. We found only two shell casings in the truck. And it gets better. The wounds are to the left side of their heads.”

“Okay.” Kathleen tried again to focus on her partner’s words. She pushed the memories and the pain into their little compartment in her mind and shut the door.

“According to their parents, both boys were right-handed.”

“So they shot themselves with the wrong hand with a nonexistent weapon.” Kathleen rested her chin on her hands. “I wonder if he’s realized yet how badly he screwed up.”

“Oh, he’s probably scrambling for a way to cover it up. You know what we need to do? Listen to those dispatch tapes.”

Kathleen leaned down to pick up a box from the floor by her desk. “One step ahead of you.”

They settled in, the tape player on the desk between them, and listened to Chandler County’s recording first. Kathleen frowned, tapping a pen against her lips as the dispatch record played out. A shiver of foreboding traveled down her spine.

“Wait. Play that back.”

“The whole thing?”

“From where they contact Haynes dispatch.”

Altee hit the play button again. Troy Lee’s voice held excitement blended with a trace of fear. “Chandler, we’re westbound on County Line Road, approximately three miles from Haynes County. Notify Haynes of status.”

“Chief Deputy Reese has been monitoring chase on radio, is standing by at county line, C-8.”

“What have we got?” Jim Ed’s distinctive drawl cut across the static.

“Two armed robbery suspects coming into your county.”

“What do we need to do to stop them?”

“He’s caused a city unit to 10-50, has tried to ram a unit and is shooting at patrol cars,” Troy Lee retorted. “Does that answer your question?”

“10-4.”

“This is where his car runs hot,” Altee said, fast-forwarding the tape. “Calvert picks him up and…”

“Chandler, we’ve got C-8. Back in the chase.” Tick’s calm voice. “Suspect vehicle is back in sight, now in Haynes County. Vehicle is approximately a mile ahead of us.”

Kathleen studied the map. “There’s a really steep hill at that point. He’d have lost sight of him.”

Ten. Fifteen seconds of silence.

“Chandler, suspect vehicle 10-50. Two Haynes units on site.”

More silence, then Tick’s voice again, the tension higher than before.

“Chandler, notify GBI. We’ll be needing the coroner.”

Two Haynes units on site
. Two. Fifteen seconds. What could happen in fifteen seconds?

Fifteen seconds was long enough to empty a clip from a semi-automatic handgun. Long enough to see who fired two fatal shots. Long enough to tell a lie. Long enough for Jason Harding to have made her forget all of her training.

With a groan, she buried her head in her hands. Disappointment and self-disgust rolled through her. She’d let him blind her to the truth, forget her duty. To Altee’s credit, she didn’t say, “I told you so.”

After a moment, Kathleen lifted her head. “Play the Haynes County one.”

The second tape began with Reese’s interaction with Troy Lee. The tape crackled, obliterating Reese’s voice for a moment. “H-13, what’s your twenty?”

The croaking of frogs accompanied Jason’s voice. “Highway 112, just north of the Bridgeboro crossroads.”

Altee frowned and hit the pause button. “Frogs?”

Kathleen nodded, already figuring the mileage. “There’s a pull-off there where the Haynes boys like to run radar. It’s right next to the dairy’s drainage pond. More frogs than Egypt saw during the plagues.”

“So he’s how far from where the chase ended?” Altee started the tape again. Jason confirmed he was en route to serve as Jim Ed’s backup.

“Three to four miles. He’s coming from the opposite direction as Tick.” A blend of relief and frustration rolled through her. With the distance involved, Jason would have arrived scant seconds before Tick, but he still could have had time to see what happened. Not enough time to commit the murders himself, but enough time to see them take place. She was no closer now to knowing the truth than she’d been before, but she was closer to losing her heart.

The remainder of the tape confirmed her calculations. His “on scene” call to dispatch came just four seconds before Tick reported seeing both units.

“Well, that was really helpful.” Altee snapped off the tape player.

“He was telling the truth about when he arrived.”

Eyes narrowed and lips thinned, Altee looked at her. “You really want to believe this guy, don’t you?”

Kathleen rose and paced to the window. She leaned against the sill, her fingers clutching it until her knuckles ached. “If he’s telling the truth about that, he could be telling the truth about what he saw.”

Altee’s hands fluttered like angry birds. “Do you
hear
yourself? These guys left a dead snake in your storm door. That’s a threat, Kath! And you’re giving him the benefit of the doubt.”

Everything her partner said made sense and Kathleen could imagine herself saying the same things if their positions were reversed. In her mind, though, she kept hearing Jason swearing he wasn’t involved in the snake incident, that he hadn’t seen anything the day the boys died. She remembered his enthusiasm as he talked about his time in the army, his quick grin, the way his eyes crinkled at the corners.

Altee was right.

She
wanted
to believe in him.

He was a Haynes County boy and she wanted to believe him so badly she was looking for ways to back up his story.

Hell, she was using a case to get close to him.

What did that say about her?

“Kathleen?”

She closed her eyes briefly, then looked at the woman who’d been closer than any sister ever could be. A frown carved a deep furrow between Altee’s brows. Kathleen blew out a long, shaky breath.

Tears pushed up in her throat and she blinked. “This conversation stays between us.”

“Of course.”

“Girl talk, Altee, not cop talk.”

“Just spit it out.”

“I don’t want him to be involved in this. I want to believe him. God, Altee, I don’t know what to do.”

“You’ve got to stay away from him. I don’t want to see this blow up in your face, and the whole situation is one of those nasty little things that tend to do that. He’s a potential suspect and you’re a lead agent.”

Kathleen turned away, staring out the window. In the parking lot, a handful of tiny birds fluttered along the ground. In her gut, she knew Altee was right. Jason Harding was trouble waiting to happen. The best thing to do was avoid brewing trouble and cancel her dinner invitation. The right thing to do.

Then why did her chest ache at the mere thought of not seeing him again?