Diana (16 page)

"Can you blame me? It's feasible, yet it doesn't add up."

She watched Luke, saw the sadness, the hurt and pain. Her gut told her to believe him.

"I listened to the tapes. I heard your voice. I could hear the pain, the anger you felt."

"I could never commit murder, start a fire to injure innocent people. He got all the media attention instead of the firefighters and their families. Where is the justice in that?"

Diana moved toward him. She touched his hand. “I don't know what to say. My gut is telling me to believe you, but as the lead investigator on this case, I need solid proof, evidence that proves your innocence."

Luke glanced down at her hand, studying it as he gently caressed each tiny, wavy line. “You say your gut is telling you to believe me. What about your heart?"

She pulled her hand away and took a few steps to the door. “You accused my brother Brian of not doing his job. You refused to cooperate with me from the beginning of this investigation."

He stepped toward her. “I thought you were involved with my father. I was pissed off."

"You had no right to be. Even if I was involved with him, though I am not, you had no right to make such accusations."

"It pissed me off. My father and I aren't exactly on good terms."

"That's not my problem. From here on out, you are to confide in me any information you have on this case. I want to know everything about Stewart Howard, about any enemies you have, and about anything else you receive from our secret messenger. You got it?"

"Yes, ma'am.” He took her hands into his.

They were silent a few moments before he spoke. “I missed you."

She wanted to resist his charms, to resist the need to be in his arms, but she couldn't. Luke pulled her closer, he kissed her head, caressed her hair while her face lay flat against his chest. She thought about his pain.

"I'm sorry you have to go through this."

"I'm sorry I barged into your apartment all angry.” He put some space between them, but still held her around the waist.

"Things are going to get bad. I don't want you risking anything for me. This guy has pissed me off, which makes me even more determined to catch him."

"I'm worried about you, Luke. Don't do anything stupid. I'm sure he'll keep sending us stuff. Let's see where he leads us."

She held his hand and guided him to the couch. They sat down, and he put his arm around her shoulders.

"He's going to send us on a wild goose chase. One of us must've come pretty close to him. I say we look back, trace our steps, and see who we had contact with."

"What about Stewart Howard?"

"I don't know if I'll ever find out what happened to him."

Diana lifted her chin toward Luke and slightly pulled away from him. “I hate to say this, but I think we should stop—"

"No, don't say you want to forget about last night, about what we shared."

"What am I going to do when the information comes out about you, and the accusations about your innocence?"

"You do your job, Pellino. You worry about yourself, not me."

She attempted to stand up. He pulled her back. She straddled his hips, as he placed his hand behind her head, leading her lips to his.

A moment later, he stood up from the couch. Her legs remained locked in place around his hips, her arms embracing his shoulders.

His gaze seemed to shelter her, as he headed down the hallway in search of her bedroom.

Diana awoke when her cell phone began vibrating on the bedside table. She flipped it open to answer the call.

"Yeah, Pellino, it's Jerry. We got another one. A fire down by the waterfront district. It's got our guy's name all over it."

"How so?” She turned over, expecting to see Luke still lying in her bed. His side was empty. Fear set in.

"The guy called it into 911 Dispatch, claiming his name was Stewart Howard."

Diana jumped out of the bed.

"I'll meet you there in fifteen.” She hung up the phone, her mind going over the series of events. Where the hell was Luke? She pulled on her dress pants. The fear, the uncertainty, made her hands shake as she tried to locate all her clothing.

"God damn it, Luke, where the fuck are you?"

"Right here."

She swung around with one leg in her dress pants and one leg out of them. Luke emerged from the bathroom.

She wanted to cry out a ‘halleluiah’ but didn't. Instead, she threw herself into his arms and kissed him.

"What's going on?"

She filled him in on the fire.

"You thought I left? You thought it was me?"

She couldn't hide the truth from him.

"Now do you believe me?"

"When this bastard tries to claim it was you, I'll be sure everyone knows the truth."

He grabbed her by the arm. “Don't."

Her eyes widened in shock. “What do you mean, don't? He just made a claim to starting the fire and he used your arson's name. I'm sure he's leaked the video and audio recordings to every media site, fire department, and police site out there. No way would I allow him to make you take the fall."

"We don't know who this is. Let him think he's gotten away with framing me. When the time comes, we'll reveal the truth. Remember what you promised me. You'll stay out of this part. You'll worry about yourself and your job."

He held her shoulders in place, obviously demanding an answer.

"I promise. I don't like this stupid plan one bit, but I promise."

Luke kissed her before she put on her shoes and hurried out the door.

"Wait for the call before you show up. Don't go there, Luke, unless they call you as the fire marshal."

"Yes, ma'am."

He gathered his things after she left, then headed back to his place.

Diana and Jerry were talking about the fire when they noticed the chief of police, along with two lieutenants, enter their commander's office. She had a bad feeling.

Since they'd arrived on the scene of this third arson fire, she felt uneasy. A different fire marshal showed up instead of Luke. She knew that was a bad sign.

A few minutes later, they left and the commander called both Diana and Jerry in.

"You two take a seat. You've got some explaining to do, Pellino."

"What are you talking about?"

"Did you receive some files and audio tapes on my son, Luke Fontella?"

She remembered what she promised Luke. His safety meant everything. “No, sir. What are you talking about?"

The commander stood up straighter. “Now come on, Pellino. I'm asking you as your commander. Did you receive any information on my son?"

She glanced at Jerry, but she refused to make eye contact with him. He was her partner and he could read right through her bullshit.

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't know anything about any tapes or emails. What's going on?"

"I'm taking you both off the case.” He leaned against his desk.

"What? Why?” Diana stood up.

"Yeah, what the hell did we do wrong?” Jerry said.

"I think it's better if I pass this case along to a more neutral party, now that my son is a suspect."

"A suspect? Since when? We're the ones investigating this case. Your son is the marshal assigned to it. I'm confused."

The commander looked at Jerry. “You didn't tell her?"

Diana stared at her partner. “Tell me what?"

"His girlfriend was at his apartment when an email came through. She heard my son making some incriminating statements. Then she read the message from whoever got a hold of those tapes. She formed her own conclusions and called it in."

"Who was it, Jerry?"

Jerry remained silent.

"It doesn't matter, Diana. The media received the same email along with the attachments. They'll have my son tried and charged in a snap.” The commander bowed his head and walked around his desk.

She swallowed hard. All it would take were her words. She had an alibi for the commander's son. She couldn't, though. It was all Luke's plan.

Then it hit her. Only she and Luke knew about the real killer's intentions. The fire took place before Jerry's girlfriend saw the email and made the call. The killer was someone close to them. There was no other explanation.

"What evidence besides these tapes do they have?"

"The evidence is pretty incriminating, Diana."

"I don't believe your son is responsible. I'm not finished investigating this case. Please, sir, leave me on it. Jerry can go onto something else. I can handle things on this end."

The commander was silent a moment.

"I want to help, Diana. I'm your partner."

She gave Jerry a dirty look.

"I'll let you stay on it for now, until command makes the decision to assign other detectives. Just remember, the brass threw around the words FBI. Once they get involved, we're all finished with this case. If you need anything, be sure to contact the chief immediately. You will report to him, so no one thinks I'm helping my son."

Diana walked to the commander's desk. “If it's any consolation, sir, I'll do my best to prove your son's innocence, despite the fact that he's a pain in the ass."

The commander smirked. “Thank you."

She knew what had to be done next. She was the lead investigator and with the release of the video and audiotapes, she would have to bring Luke in.

"Sir, you know I'll have to bring Luke in for questioning? Once I look at the tapes, the emails, and the audio?"

The commander stared at her, the anger apparent, but he remained professional. “I understand."

Diana looked at the computer screen and pretended it was the first time she'd ever heard the audiocassettes and saw the video. In her heart, she worried about Luke. The two detectives from the unit were notifying him that he had to come into the precinct. She was tempted to warn him but knew she couldn't. He'd understand. He had to know this was coming.

She leaned forward at the desk and wrote down a series of notes, questions, and information to ask Luke.

"Diana."

She turned around. Jerry stood in the doorway. “I have nothing to say to you."

"I'm sorry."

"You've been saying that a lot lately."

"Diana, I..."

"I'm your partner."

"It was out of my hands."

"Who was it? Who's your girlfriend?"

Jerry placed his hands in his pockets. He looked down toward the floor. “Leslie."

"Leslie Spencer, the chief's daughter? The one who has been after the commander? The one who caused all that shit between Luke, the commander, and myself?” Diana was angry.

"Yep."

"You're a jerk, Jerry, and she's using you."

"I'm sorry, Diana, really I am. If I can help with the case, just let me know. I'll do anything to make it up to you."

Diana left the room.

A half hour later, Diana and Detective Phil Horan sat in one of the interrogation rooms with Luke Fontella. Never was she so nervous in her life. She knew, behind the hidden mirror, her commander, the chief, and the head of the arson unit stood listening and watching. She had a job to do, to ensure she remained on the case.

She started with the basics. Where do you work? How long have you been there? And a few other simple questions, before hitting him with the big one.

"Isn't it true that you were the first person to enter the structure and confirm that it was safe for myself and the forensics team to enter?"

"Yes, Detective, that's true."

Luke remained calm. Diana was rather impressed with his composure.

"So, you're stating that no one else had access to the body prior to yourself?"

"There were two teams of firefighters that entered the fire to extinguish it. Those firefighters assisted in putting out the flames and, in the process, noticed the fatality."

She glanced down at the file.

"In your report two days later, you claim that there were a number of boot marks located very close to the body. You reprimanded numerous firefighters for their lack of following protocol. Is that correct?"

"Yes. They didn't preserve the crime scene."

"Why wasn't this information exposed immediately to myself and the forensic team? Why did you decide two days later to divulge this information, and blame an entire company for contaminating my crime scene?"

Luke swallowed hard. She was sure he wasn't expecting her to be so hard, but she was trying to help prove his innocence and simultaneously rid any questions she had about his guilt.

"I don't like to rush to judgment, Detective. I like to review my notes, the pictures, the evidence found at the scene, then make my analysis."

"Well, that's just fine and dandy for you. But, you see, the problem with your decision at the time is that it greatly affected our job as homicide detectives to accurately collect evidence."

"What? How so?"

"If we knew that you felt there was a possibility the firefighters on the scene stomped through that area, we could've had forensics compare the boot prints to those of the firefighters. We could've taken samples, confirmed, through questioning, those firefighters had stepped through the area."

"That doesn't make me a suspect."

"On the contrary, all we have to go by is your report, stating that the firefighters walked through the crime scene. These firefighters claim differently."

"They're pissed off."

Diana grabbed a photocopy of the crime scene log, taken by the fire chief at the scene.

"They should be pissed. Right here, I hold the crime scene log and the log from the fire chief, indicating that you were the only one who entered the apartment, ensuring the safety of the building structure."

Luke took a deep breath. “Other firefighters went through the crime scene."

"There's no written proof of that."

"I questioned Brian Pellino and Don O'Rourke. They separated for a few minutes when they entered the apartment, along with another two-man crew."

"There's no signed statement by Pellino or O'Rourke stating that."

"I questioned them. Pellino admitted to being apart from his partner for thirty seconds."