FIRST ONE DOWN: A Paul Sutton Novel (11 page)

"Great race, Meg. You did it, you produced another winner!" Kali picked up her drink, lifting it to her mouth as if it were a microphone, "Race fans from around the world assembled at the Del Mar race track tonight to witness Meg James take yet another win. With her superior thoroughbred training program, and her knack for one on one communication with these majestic animals, she is sure to continue to set the world on fire by continuously breeding and training winners. Embed her name in your memory banks, race enthusiasts; she is going to go down in the books as the most skilled trainer in history! This is Kali Hanson, channel seven news, signing off." Kali pretended to set down her imaginary microphone and kissed Meg on the cheek.

"You are so silly, K," Meg said, pretending to be bashful, but both girls knew it was just an act.

"Awww, Meg, I am so happy for you. Let's get a round of drinks."

"Yes, please," Meg said and winked at Kali.

The girls sat at the table talking about the race and catching up with each other. Kali was in the middle of telling Meg about Andrew and the contract that the facility had landed when Meg's cell phone began chirping repeatedly. Meg pulled her phone out of her purse and looked at the screen. She abruptly excused herself from the table, and Kali turned her attention to the others at the table.

When Meg returned twenty minutes later, she still had an amazing glow about her, and Kali was relieved. When Meg excused herself to take a call, it was rarely a good thing. Kali wasn't envious of the amount of pressure Meg had. Big success doesn't happen without big stress. Thinking about that made Kali thankful for the simplicity of her own life. Except for Nate, she had never had any big stressors. And as quickly as Nate popped back into her mind, she pushed him right back out and resumed telling Meg about Andrew and the contract.

"So, what does this mean for you, K?"

"Well, it means that the facility's workload just doubled, I have been given permission to hire more staff for my department and in the short term, I get to see the handsome Colonel Andrew almost every day."

"You are glowing, K! I haven't seen you this happy in a long time. I love it!" Meg squeezed her hand "and, when do I get to meet this sexy Colonel?"

"Never!" Kali teased, "I want to get to know him before I introduce him to the most gorgeous friend that I have. I may not be the smartest girl in the world, but I'm not an idiot."

"Like I could ever out-woo you when it comes to a man, K. Come on, you look like you just stepped off the cover of Maxim."

"You are great for my ego, Meg, thanks," Kali said, with a smirk made just for Meg.

"I have to run, K. I have something I have to take care of. Let's get together next week, okay? I love you," Meg kissed her on the cheek and exited the box without any further explanation.

Kali had another drink and stood on the box balcony, overlooking the racetrack. Her mind drifted off to Nate and how she was going to handle breaking the news to him. She wondered if just ending all communication would be best. She knew he would be furious and hurt, and she wasn't sure she wanted to deal with the wrath that he might bring down on her. Sipping her drink, she went over possible scenarios, none of them ending well. Cutting off communication was best, she thought, and that was exactly how she was going to handle it. No defense, no offense -- just game over.

Sutton woke up to the blaring sound of static set at full blast on his alarm clock radio. It took something loud and obnoxious to raise him from a deep sleep. Most mornings that wasn't a concern because he rarely slept through the night. But he had to be on top of it today. Nate Warner was scheduled to meet him at the station this morning, and he needed to do everything to assure that he was functioning at a hundred percent. When you have zero physical evidence, and no eyewitness, when a case has no teeth; a detective’s best and most important tools are his interrogation techniques. A good night’s sleep was necessary for Sutton to be ready to face off with the man who could very well be the monster he was hunting.

The info that came back on Olivia Foster was disappointing. The residence address was yet another dead-end. It was a rental unit and the tenants in the unit said they had moved in February of 2010. But, because Olivia was licensed in the state of California as a physical therapist, her work address was also available and Sutton planned to pay a visit to the work address listed on Olivia Foster's license after he met with Nate Warner. After meeting with Nate, he might have a better idea of how, or if, Olivia was connected to him in 2009.

Sutton looked around his living room; the bare walls were a constant reminder of the emptiness of his life. When he was a younger man, he had told himself he would settle down one day; someday when the job didn't demand so much of his time. And now, he realized that it wasn't the job making demands of his time. It was his own insatiable need to bring the bad guys to justice. His self-imposed title as a warrior against evil, that's what kept him from entering into a relationship worth having. The reality, he knew, was that during the process of hunting evil time and time again, over the length of his career, he had become a breed of evil. Now, evil was a part of him, like a stain that couldn't be washed out, couldn’t be bleached away. Its characteristics had seeped into every fiber of who he was. He was damaged now. Damaged in a way that kept him from even considering entering into a relationship. The fear of a woman he loved seeing the part of him that housed evil thoughts and when necessary, evil actions and pointing it out - or worse, being subjected to any part of it, was greater than the fear of the loneliness that he felt living a life of solitude.

Sutton got ready, grabbed the brown file containing Olivia's information, and headed out for the day. By the time he had made his way through the hideous traffic and arrived at the station, it was almost eight. He had a few last minute details he wanted to go over before Nate Warner showed up.

Sitting at his desk, flipping through the thin file he had on Nate Warner made him wish he had been able to pull more background on the guy. He knew he was prior military, Marine Recon. He knew that he worked on base at Peterson for a civilian contractor that, from what he could tell, assisted in training operations for MARSOC, the Marines Special Operations Command. What exactly he did there was unknown, and Sutton doubted he would learn anything beyond that from Nate about his line of work. He re-read the previous notes taken on the two separate interviews with Nate. The first interview had been conducted by himself and the second by the detective assigned to the case after he retired. They were almost identical - the exact same questions on both and the exact same answers given by Nate. No, he hadn't seen Laura Carmichael on the day or night of her murder. No, he did not have a relationship with her beyond that of a professional nature. No, he did not know anything about her personal life. Yes, they communicated via telephone and text. No, he didn't know of anyone who wanted to harm her. No, she did not seem afraid or worried the last time he saw her. And no, he did not have anything to do with her murder.

At the time the previous interviews were conducted, they had no reason to believe that Nate was in any way connected with Laura's murder. There was still no evidence, circumstantial or otherwise indicating that he was. But, Sutton's gut was pushing him in that direction. It was a feeling, Sutton could feel the darkness inside of Nate Warner, and he had had almost two years to sift through every piece of information on the case. At the time the initial interview was done, Sutton wasn't even close to the Nate path. That was the very beginning and he hadn't ruled out Andrew yet. The significant other is always the first look in these cases. The first time this case was in Sutton's hands, he was frazzled. Years of job stress built up on top of his unhealthy habits and both had had him worn out. His sudden, massive heart attack came as no surprise to him or anyone else. He had given the case all he had but all he had had back then was less than adequate. He had missed the sixth sense that usually led him in a direction before any piece of evidence did. Thinking back now to the interview with Nate, almost two years ago, he clearly saw the signs that he had missed. He had shrugged off that gut impulse trying to sway him towards Nate as the effects of medications and fatigue. He had flat out missed it, and possibly let this guy walk the earth free to kill again. That was not a mistake that he could live with. This time around the only direction there was to explore further was leading right to Nate Warner. And this time, Sutton was completely tuned in and ready to go toe to toe with it, and with Nate.

He answered his ringing desk line and reception let him know that Nate had arrived. He steeled himself for the work ahead.

"Let's go partner," he said to Ryan, already on his way to the elevator.

"I'm ready. You good?" Ryan asked.

"Ya, I'm good. It's been awhile since I was inside an interrogation room. But if this guy is hiding something, I'm pretty confident that we can dig it up. All we gotta do is throw in the bait, and I think Olivia Foster may be the bait we need."

Ryan headed for interrogation room number three to set up and get the tape rolling while Sutton went down to get Nate.

Exiting the elevator, Sutton looked around the main lobby and didn't see Nate Warner. He walked to reception and inquired as to his visitor’s whereabouts and the desk attendant pointed in the direction of the large, glass front doors to the building. Sutton thought it a bit peculiar that Nate would walk back out front knowing he would have to go through the hassle of security once more, but he exited the building to look for him anyway. It was bright outside and the sun was casting rays down on the front of the large building. Sutton put his hand up against his forehead to shield his eyes from the sun and looked from side to side. He spotted Nate sitting on a concrete bench off to the side of the building. He appeared to be typing something into his phone, and his face showed signs of stress. Good, Sutton thought, he wanted Nate to be off his game.

Nate looked up and saw Sutton; his facial expression changed instantly, and Sutton was impressed with the sudden transformation.

"Good morning Mr. Warner, thanks for coming down to the station. Let's go on up now."

"Morning Detective, please lead the way. I have a busy day ahead and need to get this over with as quickly as possible."

Sutton waved a hand towards the front door, "After you."

Nate got up from the bench, his frame large and muscular, and his demeanor now calm and controlled. He followed Sutton into the station and made his way through security. Once at the elevator bank, he asked Sutton, "What is this new evidence you have?"

"This is an ongoing investigation, so I can't share that information in detail with you, but I believe we are finally on the right track."

Sutton could see a minor shift in Nate's posture and he felt adrenaline start to build within. This guy might be easier to shake than he originally anticipated, he thought to himself.

The elevator arrived at the third floor and Sutton exited, followed by Nate. They walked in silence down the long, winding corridor to interrogation room number three. Sutton opened the door and motioned for Nate to go in ahead of him. When Nate was seated, Sutton said, "I'll be back in a minute, I need to go round up my partner," and closed the door behind him.

Sutton went to the tape room where Ryan had the video from room three up on a large monitor. Watching Nate, it was impossible to detect any uneasiness in him. He sat in the chair, blank expression on his face, completely still and seemingly unfazed.

"Let's do this," Sutton said.

"You have your head right?" Ryan asked, obvious concern in his tone.

"Ya, my head’s right, don't try to reel me in on this one, Ryan. I plan on having to run the game wide, but I know where I'm going with this."

"Hey, I'm just here to watch. I'm not going to step on your toes, I'm not your damn babysitter," Ryan said, backing off some.

The two detectives walked into room three. Sutton sat down across from Nate at a small, metal table and Ryan sat at the head of the table, scooting the chair back away from Nate's side. Sutton went through the formalities including notifying Nate that the interview was being taped and recorded, giving him his and Ryan's full names and stating Nate's full name.

"Mr. Warner, I am going to ask you many of the same questions I asked you two years ago regarding your relationship with the deceased, Laura Carmichael."

Sutton took Nate through all of the previously asked questions, trying to come off as rushed and uninterested. Ryan interjected a few times, expanding on the initial questions, in an attempt to distract Nate's focus on Sutton.

As the interview neared its end, Ryan excused himself and left the room. Sutton stood up from the chair and began to hold his hand out to shake Nate's hand, "Oh, one more question and it's probably nothing, but do you know a woman named Olivia Foster?" Sutton asked.

Nate's eyes widened, he straightened up in his chair and Sutton could see him rolling over the question in his mind, "The name sounds vaguely familiar, was she someone working on the project?"

"Project?" Sutton asked, noting that Nate used the past tense in referring to Olivia.

"Olivia Foster, would I have known her from the project that Laura Carmichael and I were working on?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Warner, I must be lost here. Can you tell me what the nature of the project was that you were working with Mrs. Carmichael on?"

"It's a classified project so, no, I can't go into detail."

"How long did you work on this
classified
project with Mrs. Carmichael?"

Watching from the video room, Ryan was in awe of how swiftly Sutton had just turned the interview around. He could distinctly see Nate's countenance become one of confusion. The old man had him exactly where he wanted him and for the first time in a long time, Ryan saw a hint of the old Sutton. The man who was legend because of his uncanny way of tripping perps up in their web of lies - masterfully spinning a web that they fell into, fangs first, every time. Ryan shook his head, "Hell, the old man's still got it," he said to the empty video room, and smiled.