Page 19 of Before You Go
She hasn’t considered what the consequences will be when the truth about her relationship with Billy comes to light. And it will come to light. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but eventually, someone will fuck up, and an entire family will implode. Maybe Billy’s marriage will survive the fallout, and maybe it won’t, but either way, the kids who are completely innocent will suffer. Meanwhile, Jamie will walk away completely unscathed and likely marry some other guy who either has no idea about the kind of woman she actually is—or is okay with the shit she’s done just because she’s pretty and has nice tits.
“Thanks.” I set the cup aside. It’s too late in the day for coffee, and I already have a hard enough time getting to sleep at night lately without the extra caffeine.
“You’re welcome.” She walks around the side of my desk and comes to stand too fucking close. “Do you need anything from me?”
“I need you to move.”
Realizing I’m not joking, she takes a step back. “You’re never any fun.”
“I don’t get paid to be fun.”
Hearing a knock, I turn to the door as Mary steps into my office with a folder in hand and her eyes on Jamie.
“Can you leave? I need to speak with Dayton,” she says coldly, her hand on the door indicating it’s not a question but a demand.
“Of course,” Jamie says quickly, rushing out of my office, and Mary shuts the door behind her. Turning back to face me, she walks to one of the two chairs in front of my desk and takes a seat.
If the role of District Attorney was filled based on experience and results, I have no doubt that Mary would hold that position. She’s smart, articulate, and wise beyond her years. But since she refuses to submit to anyone and doesn’t have a penis to get into the good ol' boys club, her climb up the ladder has been slow-moving. She started working for the DA’s office right after graduating from Yale, and it took her too many years to get promoted to Assistant DA.
“Is everything okay?” I ask her.
“I have a case that I want to go over with you.” She leans forward and passes me a file, and I flip it open. The first sheet of paper is the printout of a grainy photo. It’s of a woman who I would guess to be in her early twenties with a mass of curly blonde hair, wearing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. She has a bright smile on her face as she looks at someone off-camera.
“That’s Alice Groden. She was murdered in 1997 in her home one week after giving birth to her son. Her husband was at work during the event, and her son was with her mother-in-law, who had offered to take the baby that morning so Alice could get some rest. The detectives working the case first suspected her husband’s friend, who had made her uncomfortable on a few occasions and had no alibi for the time Alice was murdered. But they never had any evidence to connect him to the crime, and he passed a polygraph, so they felt they had no reason to keep looking into him.
“Then, four years after her murder, Charles Feller was arrested for the murder of Debra Oshae.”
My brows drag together, Charles's name sounding familiar.
“Charles has been convicted of murder-for-hire here and in Florida. He’s also been charged with the homicide of three women, who he killed just because he’s trash.”
“Right,” I mutter, and she nods.
“While Charles was being interrogated for the murder of Debra Oshae, he confessed to the murder of Alice. The detectives at the time were not convinced that he was telling the truth, even after he gave the layout of the apartment and details about the crime that no one else would know.”
“Okay.”
“After he was convicted for killing Debra and sentenced, he recanted his confession of Alice’s homicide to the media, claiming that it was coerced. He wasn’t. There is an audio recording of the conversation, and he gave that information without even being prompted.”
She sighs, then continues, “The case had been tucked away and forgotten until recently, when a woman with a podcast started looking into it and contacted the department, asking questions. They shared what information they had but made it clear there were not enough funds to perform the most recent DNA testing.”
This doesn’t surprise me. Most police departments barely have money to do DNA testing on cases as they come in. They wouldn’t prioritize a cold case.
“When they told her this, she offered to pay for the testing herself and to share the information she was able to gather through her own investigation of the crime. So, they opened the case back up and submitted what evidence there was for DNA testing.”
“Did it come back as Charles?”
“Yes, but as you know, with these things, it’s never as easy as just saying that the DNA is a match.”
I nod, knowing she’s right.
“I spoke with Billy, and we have decided to let you take the lead on this case.”
I try to keep the surprise off my face, but I can’t this time. Normally, I’m in the background, working the cases that are brought forward, so either she or Billy can go to court with all the information I gather.
“How long do I have to prepare?”
“Charles isn’t going anywhere, so we’re not in a rush to push this case through, but we’d like to file charges within the next few months. Hopefully, that will give you enough time to go over everything. Alice’s family and her husband deserve closure, which means we need to make sure there are no stones left unturned, and you should know there are a lot of stones. Alice’s husband is still convinced that his best friend committed the murder, and Alice’s family is convinced that her husband murdered her with the help of his best friend, which the defense will use to their advantage.”
