“As a teenager, you were caught setting a dumpster fire,” she continued, evading his question. “How many other fires did you start before being caught?”
“Hey, that’s sealed,” he snapped, edge sharpening. “I’m no pyro, if that’s what you’re aiming at. Our football team lost our homecoming game, and a bunch of us headed to the north side to blow off steam. So, yeah, I torched a dumpster. I was fifteen and pissed. Didn’t you ever do something stupid as a kid?” He flicked a curious glance between Athena and Hernandez before continuing.
“The cops overreacted, and, because I had a disciplinary record at school, they hauled me off to juvie for six months.”
“And this was in Tyler?” Athena prompted.
“Yeah. It’s where my family lived then.”
“And where you attended school with Beth Knowles.” Athena let her statement hang in the air.
“Sure, I knew Beth, but we weren’t like close or anything. What does she have to do with anything? And you still haven’t told me what this is about. Do I need to call a lawyer or something?”
“You have that right, Mr. Rusk, although we haven’t arrested you for anything. We’re just trying to put all the facts together. You claim you and your friends set the dumpster fire to blow off steam, and that you didn’t regularly engage in fire-starting. You were the troublemaker in high school, always in detention, while Beth was a solid student, a cheerleader, and heading off to college. Years later, you’re both single. She works at Shreveport Steel Solutions as a human resource officer, and you happen to pick that city as your go-to Louisiana gambling site. I don’t suppose you checked up on her, maybe asked her out?”
Calvin blinked. “Beth? In Shreveport? Single? I know she got married a few years out of high school. Is she divorced now?”
“No, Mr. Rusk,” Athena stated bluntly. “She’s dead now.”
“Dead?”
His eyeswidened. Color drained from his face. His breath hitched. Athena recognized his reaction of shock was genuine; however, was it because he didn’t know, or because he never believed anyone would find out?
Hernandez offered condolences. “We’re sorry to inform you that Beth Knowles’s body was found at the scene of an arson at Shreveport Steel Solutions in the wee hours of August 9th. The medical examiner was unable to determine if she died before or as a result of the blaze. We’re sorry for your loss.”
“No, no, you must have made a mistake.” His hands and voice trembled.
“I’m afraid not,” Athena corrected. “Dental records confirmed the victim’s identity. I must ask: why were you in such a hurry to get out of town that night?”
“Because I was due to be at my work site at seven the next morning,” Calvin replied, cloaked in anxiety. “I would never kill Beth. I wouldn’t kill anyone.”
“You nearly killed Heath Jones—if those other two hadn’t dragged you off of him during that fight that sent you to prison,” Athena corrected.
“No, no, I wouldn’t have. I swear!”
Sweat beaded on his brow and neck under the bright lights and the intensity of the questions. If Athena could just catch him in a lie.
“Where were you on July 17th?” she fired at him.
Calvin buried his face in his hands. “I don’t know.”
“July 1st?”
“Probably at work.” Rusk sounded defeated. Done. “I didn’t do whatever it is you’re pinning on me. I just found out an old friend’s dead. I want a lawyer.”
“Smart move, Mr. Rusk,” Athena said flatly. “Find one and check your calendar. The next time we talk, you’d better know more about your whereabouts this summer.” Standing, she dismissed the suspect. “You’re free to go, but don’t leave town.”
“Hey, boss.”
Athena got the impression Howard’s wave wasn’t so much a greeting as a flag-down. She and Hernandez had just returned to the situation room, Paulson rolling in behind them.
“Did you make a hit?”
“Well,” Howard fudged, “it’s almost one-thirty and we haven’t had lunch, so—”
“Put in a delivery order,” Athena cut in, irritation written across her face. “Do none of you have the capacity to think for yourselves?”
“It’s just … we usually take an hour,” Karen murmured from behind her monitor, voice barely audible.
