INK: Vanishing Point (Book 2) (15 page)

“So it’s just you and me.”
I try to smile apologetically. “Sorry if I got you in trouble
earlier.”

Carl just looks at me maintaining his
stoic stare. It’s making me really nervous. I shift between
feet. “Carl?”

Carl’s mouth pulls up to the right
showing the hint of a smile. “It’s okay. I think we all
need to blow off some steam from time to time.” A laugh rumbles
through his chest. “Besides, McNab’s face was priceless.
I learned a lot about Eli in that moment.”

Now that I’m feeling a little
better knowing he’s not mad at me we head for the door, but
we’re stopped by Jason and Bob walking toward us with a
purpose. I definitely don’t like the looks of this.

“I don’t like it either.”
Carl whispers down to me.

“Shay, I’m sorry but we have
to go to the police station.” Jason’s demeanor is
irritated.

“Why?” I ask.

“Because they want to question you
about Kevin’s murder.” Bob says simply.

A sigh blows through my lips. “Let’s
go get this done.”

Detective Glass

I really want to do this one solo.
There’s no reason Preston has to be in there with me. If she
doesn’t feel the comfort of him being there she might make
mistakes. I reach Preston’s office door, stopping short when I
see Walker.

“Preston, I’m ready when you
are.” If he tries to bring Walker in on this I’m going to
fucking lose it. I absolutely do not want her to have him anywhere
near her.

Walker doesn’t even turn around
and acknowledge me:
noted,
asshole
. Preston looks at me
with confusion. “Ready for what?”

Jesus, do I have to spoon-feed him. “The
interrogation.” I tick my head toward Walker hoping he
understands what I’m saying. I don’t want to tip him off
that we brought her in.

“Go ahead and get started. I’ll
be down there in a few minutes.” He waves me out of his office.
“Oh, Glass.”

I turn back to him. “Yes?”

“Close my door?” he says,
barely looking in my direction.

The door clicks behind me and I go to
the interrogation room where she’s waiting. I’m going to
get that little bitch for this one. It’s a total mystery how
she’s doing this, but it revolves around her.

For a few minutes before going in, I
watch her through the two-way mirror, trying to catch bits and pieces
of their conversation. Everything said in there right now is fair
game. They’ve already been informed that the recording
equipment has been turned on. So many of them forget and spill their
guts. Makes my day easier. But Jason Eddins and Bob Garner aren’t
exactly freshmen.

She’s in pretty rough shape; she
has dark circles under her eyes, and her neck is still bandaged.
Murder can really take it out of you, or so I’ve heard. I still
want to know how she’s doing it. How in the hell is she moving
these bodies? She’s barely taller than five and half feet and
may weigh a hundred and thirty pounds. But not more than that; she
looks like a bag of bones and honestly, what do these guys see in
her? She must give amazing head for all these assholes to be falling
all over her.

One of her trained dogs appears in the
doorway. The Filipino bruiser, I think he just growled at me.
“Authorized personnel only.” I smile while closing the
door on his face.

They’re speaking low enough that I
can only hear a word here and there. This is futile. I inhale a deep
breath, straighten my jacket and walk in with my box of evidence.

“Miss Baynes, so nice of you to
join us.” With confidence I stride to the table and lay down
the box and my note pad. I take my time since it seems to bother her.

“Detective Glass, Miss Baynes was
kind enough to come down here for questioning in her fragile medical
condition so I will ask that you be as brief as possible,”
Eddins starts his lawyer spiel.

She’s just sitting there not even
looking in my direction picking at her cuticles. I’m not sure
if she’s nervous or bored. It’s hard to say if she has
enough sense in that head of hers to be scared. “I’ll be
brief.” Preston could walk in at any moment so if I’m
going to push the envelope it needs to happen now.

Taking the lid off the box I ask her
point blank. “Did you kill Kevin Manning?”

She doesn’t look up from her
cuticles answering in a disinterested tone. “No.”

“Do you know who killed Kevin
Manning?” I’m still standing looking in the box.

“No.”

“Where were you last night?”
The evidence bag with the red Blood-borne scarf catches my eye.

“Eli’s, the mall, my
studio.” She still hasn’t looked at me.

I drop the evidence bag on the table and
it slides over to her. “Have you seen that before?”

She leans forward in her chair and
examines it. She picks it up to get a closer look then glances toward
her attorneys. “This is a Blood-borne scarf; Raphael had about
300 of them made.”

“Did you own one?”

“Yes, probably two.” She
answers leaning back in her chair and returning her attention to her
hangnail.

“This one was found inside Mr.
Mannings’ body, in the spot where his heart should have been.”
I wait for her reaction. Her face blanches and she stops picking at
her fingers.

She takes a breath to speak but Eddins
cuts her off. “Is there a question there?”

That was more for her benefit than for
mine. “Sorry, yes. You have a scarf like this?”

“Yes.” She states simply,
and she’s studying the scarf through the bag.

The next item pulled from my little box
of horrors is the high heel. “Do you recognize this?”

She scrunches her nose studying it hard.
“What the hell is that?”

“Surely, Miss Baynes, you know a
high heel when you see it.” I smirk.

“Actually, I’ve only worn
heels twice in my life and hope to never again.” She’s
still looking at the mud-encrusted spike.

“You expect me to believe that you
aren’t like every other woman with shoes?” I question
that. My ex-wife spent half of my retirement on shoes.

She looks to her attorneys, they nod and
she lifts her boot on the table. “I’ve had these since
tenth grade. These are the shoes I give a shit about.”

Garner gives her a disapproving look.
Eddins shakes his head.

Just because she’s wearing old
boots right now doesn’t mean this wasn’t her heel. “When
was the last time you saw Mr. Manning?”

“About seven months ago.”

“Were you and he close?”

“I guess we were; he was seeing my
best friend.” She pauses for minute in thought. “Have you
talked to his girlfriend, wife or his wife’s boyfriend?”

“If I need your help with this
investigation I’ll ask for it.” More like if I need shit
from you I’ll squeeze your pin-head.

“Isn’t that why I’m
here, detective, because you need my help?” She raises an
eyebrow, upping the ante.

“No, it’s because I’m
going to put you in jail for what you’ve done.” I lean
across the table disregarding the attorneys who are fully protesting
and trying to end the query.

“Unless you have any more
questions, I think we can conclude this interview.” Eddins
stands motioning for her to do the same, but she’s not moving.
Her eyes have glossed over a little and she seems almost lethargic.
What the hell is she pulling here?

“I do have more questions for
her.” I protest, “If you would like to leave I’m
fine continuing this interview without you if she’s willing to
agree.” She’s looking pale or green or like she might
throw up. Did I hit some kind of nerve? Good.

Her eyes zero in on me fast and full of
spite. “No, no nerves. No heels. No jail and no more
questions.” She gets up from the table.

What the hell is that supposed to mean?
“What?”

Garner stands with Eddins and Shay. I’m
losing the room. “No, we aren’t done. I have more
questions.”

Shay stares blankly ahead like she can’t
hear me. Eddins slides his notepad into his briefcase. “Yes, we
are.”

There’s a knock on the door. “Give
me one minute.” I hold one finger up. God I hope this is my
warrant.

Preston is standing on the other side of
the glass when I walk into the hallway. “Do you have the
warrant?”

“Yes and no.” He inhales a
deep breath.

“You either have the warrant for
her arrest or you don’t?” I demand.

“Here is the thing; if she is
cooperative and there’s no PC then we can’t arrest her.”
He explains this with a pained expression on his face. “Detective,
the evidence is pretty damning against her. But I’m telling
you, I don’t think she’s responsible for the murders.
Look at her for Christ’s sake, she can barely keep her head
up.”

“Okay what if she isn’t
cooperative?” I ask eagerly.

“Then I’ll have no choice
but to assume that she’s hiding something. If she is then I’ll
push harder for the warrant.” Preston says simply.

“Got it.” Walking back into
the room I’m feeling quite invigorated knowing that she won’t
be cooperating. She thinks she’s leaving and there’s no
way that arrogant little twat is getting out of here tonight, that is
if Preston holds true to his word.

“Miss Baynes, I do have a few more
questions for you if you don’t mind.” My tone is laced
with loathing.

“Of course, detective.” She
sits up in her chair like a dutiful student; what the fuck is this?

“Detective, as we’ve said
before we are happy to cooperate.” Garner pipes in. “But
can you tell us how many more questions you have or how much longer
you think we’ll be? Miss Baynes has to check in with her doctor
and take her medication.”

The door to the interrogation room opens
and Preston comes in. “It shouldn’t be too much longer.
Detective, please continue.”

The sudden change of heart is throwing
me off. I need to recover fast. “So, Miss Baynes, lets discuss
a few other things. Can you tell me what happened the night you were
shot?”

“Honestly, Detective, I wish I
could but I don’t remember much of anything.” She answers
sweet as pie.

“You really have no idea what
happened?” I ask her.

“No, I really don’t.
Everyone keeps saying that Aiden shot me, but just can’t
believe it. Aiden and I had a…” She pauses for a moment,
“Strange relationship, but he has never been violent toward
me.” I can almost see the lump forming in her throat; whether
or not she’s upset about him shooting her or her killing him is
still unclear.

“Did you attack him?” I walk
around behind her and lean on the back of her chair. Eddins eyes me
suspiciously.

“I don’t know.” She
answers quietly.

“You don’t know?”

“No, I’ve told you before I
don’t know what happened. I mean I can’t actually imagine
the scenario where I would attack Aiden, but because I have no memory
of the night I can’t say for sure.” She pulls a tissue
out of the box on the table and blows her nose and dabs at the tears
in the corner of her eyes.

There’s no way I’m falling
for the waterworks. I pick up the heel. “So this isn’t
yours?”

She shakes her head.

“Have you heard from Mr. Roth
since you were shot?”

Sadness fills her eyes and she slouches
making herself seem small. After what seems like a long time she
finally answers, “No.”

For a moment I feel sorry for her. I
snap out of it fast, but I’ve been quiet too long. Preston
chimes in. “Is that all we need for now?”

Right now I know better than to push for
more. If I want another chance with her I have to wait until we have
more to go on. She’s too smart to make a stupid mistake.

She looks relieved and gives Preston a
thankful look. Then she looks to me, “Detective Glass, is there
anything else, am I done?”

“For now, but we’ll be in
touch.” I start for the door and stop. “If we need to
contact you where will you be staying?”

“I’m staying with Eli Walker
for the next few days; I’ll let my attorneys know if I’ll
be elsewhere.” Her tone is sickly sweet; there’s
something up.

Preston speaks up. “Thank you for
your cooperation and I’m so sorry for your loss.”

For a second I think they are going to
hug, but Preston takes a step back and walks out the door. Garner
heads for the hallway and Eddins holds the door open for her. Shay
stops in the doorway, turns around smiles and winks. That little
bitch.

Shay

We meet Carl in the hallway, but we
don’t stop walking. Keeping in step with Jason is proving
difficult. Jason is wearing a nasty scowl, like someone just took a
dump in his briefcase. I look at him with a sheepish look. “How
did I do?”

“Great’ up until that little
stunt on the way out; we could have done without that,” He
scolds.

“Sorry.” I hang my head.

When we walk out of the police station
Jason turns to Carl. “While I appreciate the heads up, it
really wasn’t a good idea for you to be listening at the door.”

“I wasn’t.” Carl
states simply.

“Then how did you know about them
pushing for a warrant if she was uncooperative?” Bob asks
brimming with curiosity.

“I just did; leave it at that.”

“Okay, so can I go home?” I
ask, because right now all I want to do is lie down.

“Yes you can go to Eli’s. We
aren’t expecting anything more from them unless they find some
other evidence.” Jason looks at his watch.

“Or if there’s another
body,” Bob snorts, amused with himself.

We all marvel at his poor taste in
humor. “Not funny.” I say what everyone else is thinking.

“We’ll call you if anything
comes up,” Jason says while still glaring at Bob.

“Thanks Jason, for everything.”
I turn to Carl. “Is there any chance I could get you to take me
to my car?”

Carl answers simply. “No chance at
all today.”