“Thanks. Monroe and I have been putting the case together for weeks. It was nice to finally get the guy behind bars where he belongs.” I smiled, pride filling my chest.
Wes sat back in his chair, his bearded chin raised high. “You don’t feel the least bit guilty about putting the wrong guy in jail?”
What?We all knew Ryan Redmond was guilty of Alana Karrigan’s murder. The whole town knew it. “What are you on about? We don’t put innocent men in prison for the fuck of it, Winters. We have a solid case backing us up. What would even make you think that?”
“I talked to him. He claims the police have evidence that would have exonerated him, but somehow, it didn’t. Funny how it just disappeared, and all of a sudden, the police’s narrative fits the evidence they do have.”
“Fuck off, Wes. What evidence? We aren’t hiding any evidence. If I had something that proved Ryan was innocent, I would have reviewed and analyzed it and crossed him off our list. He’s guilty.”
“He says he isn’t.”
“They all do,” I shouted.
“How well do you know Monroe? You trust him?”
“With my life. Every day. Why?” My voice held a note of steel. Matt and I were partners from the beginning on this. If he knew something, I would know about it. What was Wes trying to insinuate?
“I have my eye on him. Mr. Pretty Boy All-American is hiding something. I know he is.” Wes sat forward, his elbows braced against his thighs. He looked at me for a long minutewithout breaking eye contact. “I’ll tell you this now since you’ll find out soon enough anyway. I’ve been contracted by the Redmonds to prove Ryan’s innocence. They’re serious, and I believe them. Ryan didn’t kill Alana. And in my opinion, your partner or someone at the station already knows that.”
“No chance. Matt’s not a dirty cop. No one at the Calla Bay Police Department is conspiring to cover up for a murderer. This isn’t some primetime TV drama, Wes. Redmond killed the girl, and he’s trying to get away with it. They’re looking for you to provide enough reasonable doubt, but you’re not going to find it. This case is rock solid.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“I never liked Monroe, anyway,” Reid grumbled. I nearly forgot he and Wyatt were in the room still.
“That’s just because he hit on Claire before you had the balls to,” Wyatt chimed in. He wasn’t wrong. Matt had been charming Claire at our family Christmas party last year, and Reid one-upped him with the most obscene mistletoe kiss. Helped kick his butt in gear and finally ask the woman out though, so really, he should be thanking the guy.
“Matt’s one of the best cops on the force. I’ve worked alongside him for years, and never once has his integrity been questioned. You’ve got the wrong scent, Winters.”
The only good thing about this debate with Wes was that it took my mind off my marriage troubles, at least for a minute. But now that I was ready to get out of here, I had no idea where I was going to go. I wasn’t going back home. There was absolutely no way I would be able to share a bed with Jules, and if she thought I was going to take the couch, she would be sorely mistaken.
Reid and Claire’s place only had one bedroom, so the couch would be the only option there. My best friend, Sebastian, was an option, but then I would have to talk about Juliet’s affair again, and I was maxed out on conversation for the day. Wyatt had enough on his plate, but he did have an empty house, last I knew.
“Wy, you have anyone staying at your old place?” I asked him. He owned a home before he and Maeve got together. Claire had stayed there for a few months after an incident at the motel in town, where she had been staying.
“It’s all yours, brother,” Wyatt said, pulling a key off his key chain and tossing it to me.
“Thanks, man. Appreciate it.”
I lay in bed that night, my mind racing. My thoughts didn’t turn to Juliet and her mystery lover—and baby daddy—once. All I could focus on was making sure the evidence that we had on Ryan was solid, real, and unimpeachable. Wes didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. He was a good investigator, but he was going to come up short if his mission was to poke holes in my case.
4
Luke
My thirty-one years of age were hitting me hard. I’d tossed and turned all night in a bed that wasn’t mine, and the kink in my neck was protesting.
I rubbed my hand along the back of my neck, digging my fingers into the trap muscles behind my shoulder blades, and turned the radio volume dial down. The staticky squeal of police radios was grating on me. Brimley was on dispatch, and his voice over the air waves sounded like sandpaper on Styrofoam. Scarlett was due to start her shift just as I was getting off mine. At least her voice was smooth and soothing, not overly high or shrill. The lilting tones and raspy quality were much easier to listen to all day over the radios.
Patrol duty had been as uneventful as ever, giving me more time to think. I didn’t need more time to think though. I could have used a high-speed car chase or maybe a drug ring raid, but instead, I pulled over Joe Donnelly and Chelsea Evans for speeding, letting them both go with a warning, kicked some kids on dirt bikes out of the local rock quarry, and discouraged Tyler Cress and his buddy Owen from loiteringoutside of Ray Geller’s pharmacy. Four run-ins in a ten-hour shift was par for the course in Calla Bay, but it wasn’t nearly as distracting as I would have hoped.
I pulled my cruiser into the department parking lot and headed inside to finish my paperwork. Monroe was talking to Captain Langston about the Karrigan case when I strolled into the open office space. Langston had borrowed my chair and rolled it up to Monroe’s desk, leaving me without a chair of my own.
“Hey,” Monroe greeted me. “I was just reviewing everything from the Karrigan case with Captain. The arraignment is tomorrow. Are you ready for it?”
“Of course I am. I know this case inside and out.” Or at least I thought I did.
Wes’s involvement was messing with my head. He wouldn’t have taken on a case like this if he didn’t fully believe the kid was innocent. But that didn’t make him right.
