The Betrayal of Lies (13 page)

Certainly the news media had caught wind of the events at the cabin the night before. She didn’t want Camille to hear about Elise on the news. She and Elise were more than colleagues, they had become friends.

Emily ripped the covers back and hopped out of bed and into the shower. Before long she was dressed and ready to go. Coming out of the bathroom, she glanced over at her bedroom windows.
Odd that it’s still awfully dark outside.

She checked the clock on her nightstand. It was only five thirty. She shrugged. At least now she would have time for breakfast she resolved, trying to make the best of the situation. She padded into the kitchen in her bare feet, hoping the milk in her refrigerator hadn’t gone bad.

Opening the cupboard, Emily grabbed a box of cereal, along with a bowl and spoon and set them on the table. She took the half gallon of milk from the refrigerator and sniffed it to make sure it was not sour yet.

She sat down at the table and ate, thinking about Colin. It was too early to phone him. Poor guy had probably been up half the night working on this case. A twinge of guilt tugged at her at having requested to be taken off the case.

She was only a consultant, after all. But, on the other hand, if she hadn’t taken herself off the case, she wouldn’t have put a tracker on Patrick’s car and followed him up to the cabin and located Elise. If Patrick was lying about who shot his wife, who knows how long it would have been before the cabin was found. There might have been two dead bodies to bury.

Somehow Colin had to find out who the real killer was—Jake or Patrick. Police consultant or not, she could still be of some help to him.

Everything pointed to Jake as the kidnapper, until the husband was found with two victims of gunshot wounds. The key was talking to Jake, finding out his side of the story. It was early, but she could drop by the hospital, see if Jake pulled through his surgery. She’d have a better chance of gathering information in person than if she simply phoned the hospital.

Emily glanced at her laptop as it sat open on the table. She opened the copy of the security video from the ATM and played it again, hoping to see something she had missed before. Over and over she played it.

She was about to close it when something jumped out at her—Elise’s necklace, a beautiful red garnet surrounded by little diamonds, suspended on a fine silver chain. It occurred to her that when they had found her, Elise had been wearing the same dress when she was killed as she had on in the video, but Emily couldn’t recall seeing the necklace. Perhaps with Elise’s head fallen forward, it obscured the necklace. It was probably nothing, but she’d have to remember to ask Colin if Dr. Walters found it on the body.

Emily quickly finished her breakfast and headed out. Stepping onto her porch, she shaded her eyes at the sun peeking over the mountains, casting a beautiful golden light over the valley. After locking her front door, she bounded down the steps to the walkway.

She froze in her tracks. “Where’s my car?”

Chapter 14

Momentarily startled to find her Volvo not sitting in her driveway, it came to her that one of the officers had driven it down the mountain and left it at the station for her the night before. Rather than phoning Colin, because of the early hour, she decided to walk the six blocks to the police station.

By the time she reached it, it was almost seven o’clock. She had hoped to see Stella, the day receptionist, but the night shift was still on until eight, so she wasn’t sure who she would encounter.

“Hello,” Emily greeted as she approached the counter. “I’m Emily Parker.” She didn’t recognize the attractive young woman. “Detective Andrews doesn’t happen to be in yet, does he?” She figured if he had a late night at work, he would still be at home, sound asleep.

“Emily Parker?” the young woman said, twisting a strand of long espresso-colored hair behind her ear. “Colin’s fiancée?”

The girl had heard of Emily. “Yes, that’s right—and, on occasion, a consultant for the department.”

“I’m Cindy.” The girl offered her hand over the counter and Emily shook it. “We haven’t met yet—I’m new—but Stella told me all about you. You’re one lucky lady. That Colin, I mean Detective Andrews, he’s a total doll.” There was a glimmer of a crush in her warm brown eyes.

“Uh, yes,” Emily replied, uncomfortable at the realization. “I am very lucky. But he’s not here yet, is he?”

“No, not yet. Were you supposed to meet him?”

“Actually, I’m looking for the key to my car. One of the officers brought it down here last night for me, and I forgot to pick it up. You don’t happen to know where it is, do you?”

“Key?” Cindy scanned her desk then opened the drawer. She pulled a key with a black fob out of it and held it up. “Is this it?”

“Yes,” Emily said, relieved, taking the key from her. “Thanks, Cindy.” She turned and headed to the door. “Nice to meet you,” she called out over her shoulder, grinning to herself at the way the girl swooned at the mention of Colin’s name. Yes, Emily was a lucky lady indeed.

She slid behind the wheel of her car and headed to the hospital to check on Jake Mitchell, hoping he had pulled through.

~*~

After checking with the information desk in the hospital’s lobby, Emily rode the elevator to the fourth floor. The elevator doors swept open and Emily stepped out, finding herself in front of the nurse’s station.

“Excuse me,” Emily said, moving to the raised counter and resting an arm there. “Can you tell me what room Jake Mitchell is in, please?”

The stout charge nurse raised her gaze from the papers on her desk, looking over her reading glasses. “Are you family?”

“No, I’m with the Paradise Valley Police.” Even though she wasn’t technically on the case in that capacity at the moment, this nurse didn’t know that.

“Can I see some ID?”

“I’m a consultant, not a cop or a detective. They don’t give out IDs for consultants.”

“Hmm, maybe they should.”

“I’ll suggest that to them, but for now, may I please see Jake Mitchell?”

“Tell you what, there’s an officer posted at Mr. Mitchell’s door. If he’ll vouch for you, I’ll let you in. Fair?”

That should work, assuming it was a Paradise Valley Police officer and not a Sheriff’s deputy. “Fair enough.”

Emily followed the nurse as she waddled down the hallway, stopping at the Intensive Care Unit where a wall of windows allowed the patients to be seen at all times. Emily looked in the window as she approached the officer and saw Jake laying in one of the hospital beds, tubes and wires connected to different parts of his body, machines all around him constantly monitoring his vitals.

“Young man,” the nurse said, addressing the officer, “do you know this woman?”

Emily’s attention returned to the nurse and the uniformed man before her. Unfortunately, it was a Sheriff’s deputy Emily did not recognize. When the small Paradise Valley Police Department was short-handed, resources from the Sheriff’s office stepped in. That must have happened here.

“Sorry, no, ma’am.”

“I’m Emily Parker, a consultant for the Paradise Valley Police. I work with Detective Andrews on certain cases.”

“Andrews I know, but sorry, ma’am, I don’t know you.”

“Emily, is there a problem?”

Emily swung around at the female voice. It was Dr. Barbour, wearing a white coat over her blue scrubs. Emily had met the doctor during several different cases, including her own auto accident a few months prior.

“This young lady would like to see Jake Mitchell,” the nurse said. “I was trying to make sure she is who she says she is, since she’s not family.”

“I’ll vouch for her, Betty,” the doctor said.

“All righty then,” the nurse said as she shuffled down the hall in the direction of the nurses’ station.

The officer retook his post.

“However,” the doctor continued, “as for Mr. Mitchell, I’m afraid he’s still unconscious from the surgery. The best thing for him is to sleep and let his body heal. The bullet did a lot of damage to his internal organs and he lost a lot of blood. The man barely had a pulse when they brought him in last night. Such a shame about Elise Murphy.”

“Did you know her?”

“Not well. We’d met at a few social events. She was on a committee to raise money for the hospital. She was a go-getter, but sweet, you know.”

Emily nodded. She was only beginning to know Elise, but she saw potential in what would have been their budding friendship.

“Do you think Mitchell will pull through?” Emily asked, glancing at him through the window. He had to—he was the key to this case.

“It’s too early to tell,” the doctor replied, crossing her arms as she turned toward the large windows, gazing at her patient. “The next couple of days are critical. All we can do is keep a close eye on him. Only time will tell.”

“It’s imperative that I talk to him. I’d appreciate it if you’d call me when he wakes up and he’s up to talking.” Emily handed the doctor a business card. “No matter what time it is.”

“That’s the same thing Detective Andrews said.”

“He was here?” Emily asked.

“Yes, late last night, way after midnight.”

~*~

Colin had been up late the night before, making sure Patrick Murphy was being held at the county jail for questioning after the shootings at the mountain cabin. He had tried to question Murphy, but Patrick had asked for his lawyer again and continued to refuse to say another word.

He had been allowed to make his phone call, but his attorney, Russell Gray, had been unavailable during the night, not responding to the call until morning, so Patrick spent the night in a holding cell.

When all efforts to pull anything out of Patrick Murphy were exhausted, Colin had gone to the hospital to check on Jake Mitchell. He waited hours for him to come out of surgery, to see if he had survived it, and to find out when the suspect would be up to questions.

The doctor urged him to go home and get some sleep, there was nothing he could do there until the next day, at the earliest. Exhausted, he followed the doctor’s advice and dragged himself back to his apartment.

Even though Colin was worn out from the late work, he had a hard time going to sleep, knowing what was ahead of him the next morning and thinking of how he had to leave Emily alone when she was so upset over Elise’s murder. Tossing and turning, he managed to get a few hours of sleep before his alarm went off at six am.

It was too early to call Emily and check on her. When it was a decent hour, he would fill her in on what had happened the night before.

He showered, dressed and was out the door before his hair was dry. He wanted to get down to the jail before Murphy’s attorney showed up and got him out. Maybe he could convince Mr. Gray to urge his client to tell his side of the story, if he really was innocent. It was worth a shot, anyway.

Colin arrived at the jail around eight am. Officer Ernie Kaufmann was already there waiting for him.

“Ernie, I’d like to have Patrick Murphy put in an interrogation room.”

“I’ll see what I can do. We heard from his attorney a little bit ago. He said he’s on his way in.”

“I figured as much,” Colin replied.

“He’ll be angry as a hornet’s nest if he thinks you’re trying to question his client without him.”

“I don’t plan to question him, Ernie. Trust me.”

When the suspect was brought into the stark, barren room, Colin was seated at the table waiting for him. “I’m sure your lawyer is on his way, that is if he got the message,” Colin said, hoping for a few minutes with Murphy before his attorney arrived.

“He’ll be here,” Patrick assured him. “You’re wasting your time if you think I’m going to say another word.”

Colin leaned forward and crossed his arms on the table, staring directly into Patrick’s steely blue eyes. “I’m not here to question you, I know you asked for your lawyer, but why don’t you just sit back and listen?”

Patrick furrowed his brows, shooting Colin a suspicious glare.

“I thought you’d like to know that Jake Mitchell is out of surgery. Yes, it looks like he’s going to make it after all,” at least, Colin hoped the man would pull through, “so you don’t have to worry yourself about being charged with his murder—just attempted murder. I’m going back to the hospital later today to question him, get his side of the story. I wonder what he’ll have to say.”

Patrick leaned back against his chair and crossed his arms, silently glowering at Colin.

“Have it your way, Mr. Murphy, but the one who talks first will get the best deal. I’m sure you know how that works.”

The door opened and Patrick’s attorney stepped in. “You know better than to question my client without his attorney.”

“I wasn’t questioning him, Mr. Gray. I was enlightening him.”

The attorney took a seat beside his client. “You haven’t said anything, have you?”

“Not a word,” Patrick responded, continuing his defiant stare.

“Are you arresting my client, Detective?”

“Not yet, but we are still gathering evidence.” With Mitchell coming out of surgery, Colin hoped for more evidence. Right now there was little more to go on than the fact Murphy was at the cabin at the time the gun went off, when the men struggled over it, if Murphy’s story is to be believed. Without more, Colin was afraid the charges wouldn’t stick, especially with the man having friends in very high places. All he would accomplish by arresting Patrick Murphy at this moment was killing his career.

“When can I get back into my house, Detective?” Patrick asked.

“The CSI unit released it last night, so you’re free to go back now,” Colin said.

“Let’s go, Patrick.” Mr. Gray stood and motioned toward the door.

Colin rose too. “Remember what I said, Mr. Murphy.”

Chapter 15

While Colin was in talking to Patrick Murphy, Emily showed up at the jail and connected with Ernie. As they stood in the hallway, he filled her in on what was happening.

“I noticed a few reporters and their satellite vans gathering out front,” Emily said. “This is going to be all over the television and internet in less than an hour, I’ll bet.”

“Reporters?” Ernie growled. “That’s all we need.”