Falling Fast (Falling Fast #1) (19 page)

Mia studied the area. “So Hank’s murderer drove here.”

“Or Hank drove here with his murderer.”

“Did your dad ever come here? To fish, maybe?”

Raleigh shook his head. “He knew he wasn’t welcome. The lake was never open to the public; George was too concerned about liability. Whoever came with Hank or brought him knew the property. Another fact to seal my fate.”

“So it’s more likely that his killer drove here, because that person—”

“
Was
welcome?” Raleigh finished.

“Not necessarily. But they knew about this lake. Let’s check it out. How do you get to the lake from the road?”

Raleigh pointed to the road leading off to the left as he came to a stop.

“Which is within sight of your cabin. You would have heard a vehicle coming, right? I don’t suppose you have a lot of traffic out here.”

“Hardly any. And I sure would remember seeing my dad’s truck. It was a piece of crap, with a headlight duct-taped into place and a bent front fender. But, honestly, with me working at the garage until one or two in the morning and most weekends, I’m not around all that much.”

He took the road, passing through a thicket of trees and then back into an opening, where yellow crime-scene tape barred them from driving farther. There was no one in sight. In the distance sat the half-finished barn that George was having constructed for the horses.

“We could take a look around,” she suggested.

“Better not. What if they put cameras in place, thinking to catch me digging up the murder weapon or something.” He stared at the lake, following the gouges in the mud where the tow truck had wrenched Hank’s vehicle out of its watery grave.

She let him have a few minutes of silence, but her mind spun. “Cody came to you at the garage, told you what happened. You called Rose, and she came over.”

He nodded. “I left Cody with her and drove to the beach where it happened. By then, though, some time had passed, so it was no surprise that Hank was gone. Then I drove to his mobile home, but I didn’t go up to the door, since his truck wasn’t there, either. I checked his usual haunts, and still no sign of him. I’d say about three hours elapsed from the time Cody arrived until I gave up trying to find Hank. I stopped by Rose’s and let her know that I hadn’t found him. Talked to Cody a little more; the kid was pretty wrecked, as you can imagine. Then I went back to the garage for another two hours to work through my rage. By the time I returned home, it was two. I couldn’t sleep, though. I would definitely have heard something.”

“So he met up with his murderer either at the beach or somewhere between there and here.”

“Maybe he figured he’d better run, so he hit all his money sources to see if he could borrow some. And maybe one of those sources, pissed because he already owed them money, blew his gasket.”

“Look how mad Lola was at him. Probably not enough to kill him, but someone else might have been. Let’s retrace the direct path backward.”

He took her in for a moment. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you. Thank you for believing in me.”

“I’ve always believed in you, Raleigh. I’ll never stop.”

He took a stuttering breath, but his gaze flicked to their surroundings. “I bet if a camera caught me kissing you at the scene of the crime they’d make it into something sick and twisted.” He squeezed her hand instead, then backed up.

Mia let out a sigh, knowing that he was right. She’d seen the media and the police turn a consoling kiss into something sinister or callous.

Raleigh stopped where the gravel met the road and leaned over to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held tight, all that desperation she’d felt when they made manic love sweeping over her. She needed to be the positive one, enough for both of them. Inside, though, she was terrified of losing him again.

She blinked hard to hide the tears before she backed up enough to hold his face in her hands. “Don’t you dare give up, Raleigh West. Do you hear me? Life can hand us a lot of shit, but we are stronger than any of that. We have to believe in ourselves, though. It won’t work if we give up.”

He gave her a soft smile. “I won’t. I have a lot to fight for.”

“Me, too.”

Raleigh watched Mia in the passenger seat jotting down times and distances like a detective as they drove to the beach. Like a woman who loved him and was determined to exonerate him. He wished he could be as optimistic as she was. All he saw was her digging herself into his grave, the dirt clinging to her as it did to him.

“We have a six-hour window during which the truck could have come to the lake.” She frowned, scratching her forehead. “It seems odd, him being murdered within hours of trying to molest Cody.”

“And suspicious. For me.”

“Maybe someone saw Hank do it and went all renegade on him.”

“You mean a stranger?”

“Or someone who knew Cody. Or Hank. Someone with a history of abuse who would be severely affected by witnessing such a thing.”

“Still sounds like me.” He sighed. “I can’t think of anyone, but it’s not like people go around talking about their personal histories.” His phone rang, and he was happy to see that it was Pax. “Hey, bud.”

“Where are you?”

Uh-oh. This was reminiscent of the call where Pax had warned him that he was about to be arrested. “Heading to the cottage.”

“Be there in fifteen.” He disconnected.

“Hell. Pax is on his way over, and he sounds terse again, like he’s about to drop another bomb on me.” His stomach hurt, the stress winding it tighter and tighter. Then Mia stroked his arm, that simple touch easing the tension a bit.

“Maybe he’s going to give you the juicy details of Cassidy’s firing.”

“No, he’d sound eager and happy about that.”

Pax was due any moment when they stepped inside the cottage. Raleigh pulled Mia into his arms, planting a kiss on her lush mouth. “Thank you.”

“I haven’t done anything that deserves thanks. I’m here because I love you. Because I believe in you.”

“Then thank you for loving me. For believing in me.”

“Raleigh, I couldn’t do anything else. You deserve love, and you deserve people’s belief in you. No matter where you came from or what you’ve gone through.”

“I love you.” His mouth found hers just as someone pounded on the front door.

She stole a quick kiss and stepped back. “I’ll pour lemonades for everyone.”

Pax burst in the moment Raleigh opened the door. His hair was disheveled, his face flushed. He scrubbed his fingers through his hair, making it even more of a mess. He wasn’t in uniform.

“Pax, what the hell is going on?”

His friend planted his hands on Raleigh’s shoulders. “I quit.”

“What?”

Both Raleigh and Mia said it at once, she joining them with a glass in each hand. “Maybe we should add some vodka to this?” she said, handing one to Pax.

He took a quick gulp and set it down. “Rose brought in a list of possible suspects. I volunteered to run them down—on my own time, even. Dad told me to leave it alone. I accused him of railroading you, of violating his oath as a lawmaker. I thought he was going to hit me. Man, I haven’t seen that look on his face since we were all busted for the racing. He told me to back the hell off. That I was letting our friendship—one we shouldn’t have, he pointed out—interfere with my objectiveness. I told him he was doing the same. The opposite, but the same.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to be a cop anyway. But that’s not the reason I came out here.”

Raleigh’s chest tightened. “More bad news?”

“Yeah.” Pax’s gaze flicked to Mia. “It’s pretty personal, though. About Cody.”

Hell. Raleigh knew what was coming, though he didn’t know
how
it had come. “It’s all right. Mia knows everything.”

“They found pictures on your father’s computer. Kid porn. Most of it looks like crap he downloaded from those depraved sites, but…there were a few shots of Cody.”

Rage and disgust roared through Raleigh. He swallowed the bile that rose in his throat. “Posed?”

“No, he probably didn’t even know he was being photographed. Looks like they were taken through a window. Sick son of a bitch had pictures of him getting undressed, taking a shower.” After Pax let that settle, he said, “You don’t look shocked. Sickened, but not shocked.”

Raleigh wrestled with how much to tell him. “Are they going to question Cody?”

“Sounds like it. That sort of thing is a good motive for murder. And I mean good because anyone who does shit like that deserves to be stabbed and dumped in a lake.”

Mia gripped Raleigh’s arm. “They don’t think Cody killed him, do they? I mean, that would be ridiculous. He doesn’t have the strength, much less the aggression, to wield a weapon like that against a grown man.”

“Kids his age and size do commit murder, Mia,” Pax said. “It’s sad but true. But my dad’s not going for that angle.”

“He’s going for me,” Raleigh said.

Pax nodded grimly. “You told the sheriff that Cody came over to the garage that night, and then Rose came by. Hank did something to the kid, didn’t he?”

Raleigh sank to the sofa, his face in his hands. It bombarded him, how everything was unraveling. “Can I tell you in confidence?”

“I’m not a cop anymore.” Pax sat down across from him. “I’m on your side. And if you went off on Hank because—”

“I didn’t. That’s just it, Pax. I couldn’t find him. Maybe I would have, though I wouldn’t have killed him. Beat the hell out of him, sure, but not kill. Then I would have hauled him to the police, where he should have been put in the first place. I hunted him, but he’d already disappeared. Mia and I have been working through the timeline.” He told him what they’d come up with. “None of us could have done it. I know Cody didn’t, because he would have been covered in blood, and more freaked than he already was.”

Mia, ever his support, sat down beside him, her thigh pressed against his.

Pax nodded. “But you know it’s a big coincidence that Hank died within hours of molesting Cody.”

“Yeah, we know, we know. But the cops have no idea what happened that night.”

“They know Hank picked up his son for his birthday. That they hung out at the beach for a while, then Cody came your way. You told them the truth, right?”

“Yes. I just left out the attempted-molestation part. I didn’t want to put Cody through that. And I didn’t think it was related at the time. Now I’m wondering.”

Mia put her hand on top of Raleigh’s. “Cody won’t tell them.” But she remembered them talking about his fear giving him away if he was questioned about that night. Her mouth turned in a frown.

“We’d better call Grace and tell her about this can of worms.”

Mia stood. “I’ll call. She should be there when he’s questioned.”

Pax met his gaze, eyes a moss green now. “Did he ever…”

Raleigh wanted to say no. To keep that dark secret to himself and Mia. “That’s how I knew to warn Cody and Rose.”

Pax gripped Raleigh’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. About that, about everything. You never told me. Never even let on.”

Raleigh shook his head. “I stuffed it all down.”

“I’ll do whatever I can to help, y’hear? I’m going to run down the people on that list as a civilian.”

“I already talked to Lola at the park.” Raleigh filled him in on their conversation.

There was more pounding on the front door. Rose shouted, “Raleigh! Mia!”

“Come in,” Raleigh said, meeting her halfway as she dashed into the house.

“They took Cody to the station! The sheriff—” She came to a halt when she saw Pax.

“It’s okay,” Raleigh said. “He’s not a cop anymore. He quit over this. Wait. What do you mean, they took Cody?”

“My client said the sheriff came by and asked Cody if he could come down to the station and answer some questions. Assured him he wasn’t under arrest or nothing, just wanted Cody’s help in tracking down who killed his dad.” Rose’s wide eyes went from one person to another before landing on Pax. “I didn’t think you could drag a kid in without having a parent there! That can’t be legal!”

“We can question a minor if he’s old enough to understand the situation. We just can’t interrogate a suspect without Mirandizing him or her.” Pax met Raleigh’s gaze. “But the sheriff is going to gently fish.”

“We knew they would probably question Cody, but the bastard got a jump on us. Mia’s on the phone with Grace now.”

“She’s going to call the sheriff,” Mia said, joining them. “When did they pick him up?”

“And where?” Pax asked.

“He was working on that fencing job. Remember how Cody said that the sheriff drove by and one of the laborers hid? He knew the kid would be on his own, vulnerable. Of course, Cody would have gone. I taught him to respect authority. He’d be too scared not to.”

Bastards. They picked him up when he wouldn’t have anyone as an advocate. “How long has he been with them?”

“An hour or more. Someone from the sheriff’s office called and left a message, telling me what happened. I didn’t get it until a few minutes ago. I’m sorry, Raleigh. I called and told them to stop questioning him. The sheriff came on the line and said they were done chatting. He was about to take him back. I said I’d come get him, but I wanted to come by here on the way.”

An hour or more. Plenty of time to coerce the kid into telling the truth. And nail the lid on Raleigh’s coffin.

Mia’s phone rang. “It’s Grace.” She put the call on speaker.

“The son of a bitch got what he wanted. That’s how the sheriff put it.”

Rose ran to the door, her face pale. “I’m going to pick him up right now.”

“Raleigh, the sheriff wants you back at the station,” Grace said. “We’ll meet outside and talk first.”

Raleigh felt beat up. Bruised inside. “We’ll be right down.”

Pax walked to the door with them. “I’m going to hit the list of names, see what I can dig up.”

Raleigh shook his hand. “Thanks.”

“I owe you that much, after what my father’s doing.”

“You don’t owe me anything. But I appreciate it all the same.”

Grace, Rose, and Cody were waiting outside the station when they arrived.

Cody stepped over with a
heartbreakingly
sorry look. “I had to tell him about what Dad did. Which meant I had to tell him about how you knew, ’cause he kept asking…. I didn’t want to, but he said people go to jail for lying to the police.”

“It’s okay, buddy.” Raleigh pulled Cody close and ran his hand over his head. It broke his heart, seeing the angst and fear on the kid’s face. “We should have told the police when it happened.” Rose had been adamant about not putting Cody through the questioning and the potential trial.

Grace asked, “Cody, did he threaten you with jail if you didn’t tell the truth?” She had a predatory gleam in her eyes as she met Raleigh’s gaze. “I could get Cody’s whole statement thrown out.”

Cody loosened his grip and looked at Grace. “Not exactly. He asked if Dad had ever…well, you know. I wasn’t expecting that question, and it threw me off. At first I said no, but he knew I was lying. Then he said people can go to jail for lying in a serious case like this.”

Grace’s mouth tightened into a hard line. She mouthed a whole lot of words, ending with what was no doubt the least acidic: “Bastard.”

Raleigh braced his palms on his thighs so he was face-to-face with Cody. “You did what was right, telling the truth. We don’t have anything to hide.
We
didn’t do anything wrong, you hear?”

Cody nodded, clearly not feeling it.

Rose pulled him into her arms and whispered something in his ear.

Raleigh, Mia, and Grace walked to the side, away from mother and son.

“Now they have their motive,” Raleigh said. And a peek into his dark secrets. That was almost as bad.

Grace was aiming that hard look at him. “There something you’d like to tell me…your
lawyer?”

“I wouldn’t
like
to tell you, but I reckon I’m going to need to now.” He unearthed the shadows in his soul a second time. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think it had anything to do with my dad’s murder. I’m still not sure it does, but I admit it’s a huge coincidence. Still, we don’t know when he died. He could have taken off for a few days, come back, and run into someone he had a beef with.”

“True. But the sheriff has you and a tasty motive. He doesn’t have, nor is he looking for, any other suspect.” Despite her ire, she clasped his arm. “Remember what you told Cody: you did nothing wrong. Let’s go in and face the dragon.”

He gave Mia a kiss on the cheek. “Stay with Rose and Cody. Or go on back to the cottage.”

“I’ll stay here.”

He and Grace went inside.

The sheriff was standing near the front desk. “Well, well, well, looks like we have a lot to talk about. Come on back.”

Raleigh knew there was no use denying it. He banked every bit of emotion as he told the sheriff why he knew that Hank might try to molest Cody.

“You still have no real evidence, Sullivan,” Grace said.

“But I have a whole lot of circumstantial evidence, my dear. And two hours where Mr. West’s time is unaccounted for.” He flicked out his fingers as he said, “The victim allegedly perpetrated a heinous crime. You were looking for him, and I imagine you were pretty angry. And he most likely disappeared that same night. I think we’re done here.” He slapped the folder on the table closed.

Opportunity, motive, and proximity. Raleigh was screwed.