Wanted with Murder (A Rilynne Evans Mystery, Book Five) (6 page)

Before she could respond, Ben leaned in close and kissed her. As his fingers ran through her hair, she felt a tear roll down her cheek. She pulled away and quickly wiped it off before either of them could notice.

“I’ll be back soon,” he said as he stood up. “Be careful on your run. Do whatever you need to do to get this figured out. If I can help, let me know.”

He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead before walking with Matthews toward the door.

Rilynne managed to hold herself together until the door closed behind them. The moment she heard the latch click, though, she completely fell apart.

She curled up on the couch with her face buried in a pillow and cried for close to an hour. Her whole body ached when her tears finally dried up. She peeled herself off of the couch and walked toward her room, leaving a trail of clothes behind her.

Rilynne grabbed handfuls of clothes as she shuffled through the drawer, not caring as they landed on the floor at her feet. After finding what she was looking for, she quickly dressed and made for the backdoor. She made sure it was securely locked, though she didn’t see the point at the moment, and ran as fast as she could through the yard and out the back gate.

Rilynne ran so fast, the trees seemed to blur as the past. She didn’t care where she was going. She didn’t even pause when she reached splits in the trail before picking one. Before she knew it, she was in a completely unfamiliar stretch of woods.

She stopped only when she came upon a tree that had fallen, leaving the path completely blocked. Her insides were screaming at her. Part of it was from the running, but something else was calling out to her.

Rilynne pushed it aside, not wanting to give into it just yet, as she climbed over the tree and started running again. Something within her, like a child making a wish, hoped if she ran fast enough, the wind pounding against her body would carry away everything that had just happened. The voice inside of her didn’t stop, though. It hadn’t been pacified like she had hoped. Instead, it was just screaming louder.

Before she even had a moment to react, the scene around her vanished and was replaced by something else. Something dark. She tried hard to push it aside, but there was no stopping it.

She saw her safe swinging open as a hand reached in. After its gloved fingertips grazed across several of her guns, they wrapped around the one they wanted and pulled it from the safe.

Then she was looking down on herself, sound asleep in bed. Next to her she could see Ben. A hand reached up from the foot of the bed and pointed toward her head. Shaped like a gun, it made a jerking movement before turning to Ben.

As it jerked up again, Rilynne felt a pain spread through her body. First hitting the right side, it moved to the left before quickly going back. She was falling. She jerked her eyes open just in time to reach out for a low hanging branch. She had just managed to wrap her fingers around it as her body rolled past. Holding on with all her might, she finally came to a stop.

She didn’t move or even try to pull herself up. Instead, she just screamed. At first, the sounds coming in between her deep sobs were nothing more than loud roars that echoed around her. Soon, they formed into words. One word.

“No,” she yelled to trees towering above her, over and over again. She yelled until she felt like she was going to be sick.

When she finally pulled herself up, she had no idea where she was. Had the sun not been out to point her in the right direction, she surely would have been stuck there until someone came along.

Her body still ached from the fall, so she decided to walk back. It took even longer than she expected. By the time she finally found herself standing outside her back gate, almost three hours had passed.

Rilynne didn’t even bother changing when she walked back into her house. Instead, she walked straight to the living room and laid down on the couch, her feet hanging over the back as her head dangled freely off the edge. The room looked funny upside down. After a few minutes, she found herself wondering how the entire house would look if the furniture was attached to the ceiling.

“You’re losing it,” she said aloud to the empty room. She tried to clear her mind and think of nothing at all. It didn’t work, though. She kept flashing back to the image of person standing at the foot of her bed, watching her sleep. There was only one thing that made sense. It was a threat.

Rilynne didn’t say anything when Ben walked into the room a little while later. He looked down at her, her feet still dangling over the back of the couch, and laughed.

“Aren’t you supposed to sit the other way?” he asked. He started toward the couch, but took a last minute detour into the kitchen. Moments later, he emerged with a couple beers. “I’ve heard of people turning cases upside down when they get stumped, but I don’t think you get the same results if you do it to the detective.”

“What can I say,” she chuckled, spinning herself back around. “I’m desperate.” Ben twisted the top off of the first bottle and handed it to her. “So did anything turn up in the lab?”

He took a long swig off of his bottle and dropped down next to her. “I’ve been given explicit orders not to tell you anything pertaining to the investigation,” he replied.

“So are you going to keep it all to yourself?” she asked hesitantly. If it had been any other case, she never would have considered asking him to disobey a direct order.

“Not a chance,” he said abruptly. To her surprise, he didn’t seem to be struggling at all with his decision about whether or not to tell her what he knew. She didn’t know what she could say that would even come close to telling him everything she was feeling in that moment. As if reading her mind, he reached out and gently swept his fingers over her cheek.

“I’m afraid there isn’t much I can tell you, though,” he continued. “There was evidence of the lock being picked at Teich’s apartment. Now, it doesn’t seem that anyone in the department is aware of your ability to do so, so that will at least provide some reasonable doubt.” Rilynne hadn’t even thought about the fact that the case might progress to court, where she could actually need reasonable doubt just to get out of this. The thought was unsettling. “As for your house, they didn’t find anything. The only prints on the safe were yours, and there was no sign of forced entry. Either they found an open door or window, or they were extremely cautious when picking the lock so no obvious signs were left. I’m sure if we took your locks apart, there would be evidence on the inside of it.”

“That wouldn’t help with anything,” she stated. “I’ve practiced on the locks myself. And how would there be visible signs of the lock being picked at Teich’s apartment without them having to taking the lock apart?”

“On Teich’s door, it looks like they used something rough to get it open, which left scratches on the outside of the lock. Professional tools weren’t used. If I had to guess, I would say he or she wanted it to look like the lock had been picked, instead of conceal it like they did here. As for your door, we can add internal evidence of the locks being picked to the list of reasonable doubt, even if it could have been caused by you,” he offered. Though she was elated by his willingness to share everything he had learned, the information itself didn’t do anything to ease the sense of dread she was feeling.

His expression suddenly hardened as he looked her up and down, taking in her appearance. “What happened?” he asked.

“I fell,” she said bluntly, trying to keep the grin off of her face.

Ben groaned and shook his head. “One of these days you’re going to get really hurt out there and be in no condition to make it home.” He was annoyed and made little attempt to hide it. “Besides, with what’s going on now, you really shouldn’t have gone out running at all. If you weren’t such an obstinate little thing, I would ask you not to. I know it wouldn’t do much good, though.”

Rilynne was in no mood for a lecture. She stood up and walked to the mirror hanging on the wall, looking at herself for the first time since she walked back in. As she did, she was actually surprised it took him as long as it had to say something. Her face
was covered in dirt and there was a twig stuck in her hair. When she reached up and tugged it out, she looked back a Ben in the mirror. He was watching her carefully, his knuckles digging into his chin.

She pulled the last bit of foliage out of her hair and walked back over to join him. “I won’t go back out,” she said with a resigned sigh. “At least not in the woods.”

He didn’t seem completely satisfied with her offer, but he didn’t argue.

“Why don’t you go get yourself cleaned up and I’ll make something for dinner,” he offered a few minutes later. Rilynne nodded and pushed herself back off of the couch. “I’ll have to run to the store since your refrigerator is almost completely empty, but I won’t be long. Is there anything you want me to pick up while I’m there?”

“No,” she said without giving the question much thought. “But take my card. It’s in my purse.” She rose up on her toes and kissed him softly on the cheek before walking to her room.

Knowing if she climbed into the bath, chances were she wouldn’t be getting out again, Rilynne turned on the water in the shower and quickly stepped in. As she scrubbed the dirt off of her still tender body, she examined herself for injuries. Surprisingly, she had only one visible bruise that reached up her left arm. The way the water stung her skin as it hit it, though, told her she was likely to wake up with a few more tomorrow.

She had just stepped out and wrapped the towel around her when she heard Ben walk back in. She hadn’t realized she had been in the shower for more than a few minutes, but saw that it had been close to half an hour.

Even after she dried off, it still took her several long minutes to will herself to pulling clothes on and walking back out of her room. Though her body ached from the fall, the true pain she was feeling came from much deeper. She felt like her whole world was being ripped away from her, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

“Get a hold of yourself,” she whispered quietly as she reached for the doorknob. Her voice snagged. After taking in a deep breath, she shook her head quickly and walked out of the room.

“Now I know I have a lot to compete against, but I thought it was time you had one of my famous cheeseburgers,” he said when she walked back into the kitchen. She
cocked her head and looked curiously at him for a moment before sitting down at the island.

“I don’t know,” she said with a playful grin. Forced as it was, it still felt good sitting on her face. “I’ve had some amazing burgers. Are you sure you aren’t biting off more than you can chew?”

“Just you wait.” He grinned, but didn’t look up at her.

R
ilynne was so full of energy when she woke up, she could hardly contain it as she pulled on her running clothes. After lacing on her shoes, she hurried to the back door. Just before pulling it open, she groaned, remembering the promise she had made Ben, and turned around.

She had barely woken up when he was leaving for work hours before, but she did hear him whisper a reminder of the agreement just before he kissed her goodbye. She knew there was almost no chance of him finding out if she broke the deal, but she couldn’t go back on her word.

Though running along the sidewalks was undoubtedly safer, it wasn’t nearly as relaxing. She wasn’t able to completely let go and jut run like she could in the woods. She also found it far more boring.

After running around her block twice, Rilynne felt like she was going to scream. She knew if she didn’t do something productive, she would surely go mad. Without giving it much thought at all, she turned around and started running away from her house. She ran until the station was towering up in front of her.

Her chest tightened as she walked through the front doors and crossed the lobby. Several people turned to face her. Though they could have simply been looking her way, she had a feeling they were watching her for an entirely different reason. It had been a full twenty-four hours. By now, she was almost positive that the entire station would have heard what happened.

The leering didn’t lesson as she stepped off of the elevator onto the third floor, although at least the eyes behind them were not nearly as judging.

“What are you doing here, Evans?” Matthews asked when she walked into the office. She looked around and found everyone in the room, including Ben.

“Honestly, I’m going a little crazy,” she stated. “I was hoping something had turned up.”

The despondent look on his face answered her question. “We’re going over every one of your cases, looking for anyone who might want to frame you,” he said. “As you can imagine, it’s not a short list. Have you started making a list of your own? Anyone who might have it out for you who isn’t part of a past case?”

Before she could answer, Ben and Lori walked over to join them. Neither seemed the least bit surprised to see her. One who did, though, was District Attorney Kristin Greene. She stepped out of the conference room and looked flabbergasted by Rilynne’s presence.

“You can’t be here,” she announced loudly. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned around. Having all attention on her made her more than just a little uncomfortable. “You’re on suspension, thus not part of this investigation.”

Rilynne opened her mouth to respond, not knowing exactly what she would say, but Matthews stood up and stopped her.

“I asked her to come in,” he said. “I had a few questions I needed to ask, and thought it best to do so in person rather than over the phone.”

The district attorney looked furious. Her large green eyes, which normally had a pleasant twinkle to them, were filled with rage. Rilynne had to fight off the urge to take a step back. The effect seemed to only be magnified by the way her hair was blowing gently around her face as it was picked up by the fan on a nearby desk.

She shot Rilynne a malignant look before turning back to Matthews. “You can ask your questions in the interrogation room,” she said sternly. “Otherwise, you can escort her out of the building.”

“I’ve already asked what I needed to,” he responded before turning to Rilynne. “Thank you very much for coming all the way down here,” he said, perhaps a little louder than necessary. It took all the energy she had to keep the smile off of her face. “I’ll see you out.”

Rilynne took a quick glance around the room before following him. Nearly everyone had the same look: pure and utter amusement.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Rilynne started laughing. “That was brilliant,” she said. “I’m sorry I put you in that position, but I’m so glad I got to see it.”

He just smiled as the doors opened to the lobby. “I have to admit,” he said when they reached the front door. “That felt pretty good. I’ve been ready to go off on someone for days. Even if it wasn’t a loud, threatening conversation like the one you had a few days ago, it still satisfied the itch.”

“Glad I could help,” she said, stepping out onto the curb. “I was honestly a little surprised she reacted the way she did, though. We’ve always been on good terms.”

Matthews shrugged and leaned against the wall. “It’s an election year. Greene’s out for blood, no matter whose it is. Vigilante justice is always highly publicized. If she is able to offer a swift conclusion, it will make her look good. If she’s able to bring down a corrupt cop, it will make her look better.”

“That doesn’t bode well for me,” Rilynne said.

“Don’t worry,” he said, pushing off of the wall and reaching for the front door. “We’ve got your back.”

*

“What are you doing here?” she asked. Though she was happy to see him, she was still taken aback by his early arrival. “I didn’t think you would even be getting off until well after dark.”

Ben groaned as he walked into the living room. She pulled her feet back to give him room to sit down. When he did, he grabbed her by the ankles and pulled them onto his lap. “I’ve been removed entirely from the case,” he stated. “Summers is still working it, but he has been ordered to report straight to Detective Wilcome. I’m not to know anything about the case from now on. Wilcome said it’s a conflict of interest, but I think he’s just doing what he needs to in order to ensure I don’t share any of the details with you.”

Rilynne felt a twinge of guilt, though she wasn’t sure why. “So they sent you home?”

He shook his head as he started kneading the bottom of her right foot. “They just needed me out of the lab for a few hours so they could process everything. And before you ask, no, I have no idea what they were looking at. They didn’t even pull it out until I left the room.”

She couldn’t help but worry about what they might have discovered that they wouldn’t even look at with Ben around. If someone was truly intent on bringing her down, there was not telling what lengths they might have taken to ensure she take the fall. “I don’t imagine my appearance at the station this morning helped with that at all,” she stated.

Ben grinned. “Like anyone was actually shocked when you did,” he chortled. “I was surprised you waited so long. Matthews told me what he told you outside the station. He was right about one thing; District Attorney Greene is out for blood. She was hanging out in the lab when I left. I think she’s trying to show that the department will be even harder on one of our own. She appears to be worrying about backlash like we had after Nicole.”

“Sorry you got caught up in the middle of all this,” she said. “I know it must be hard for you to be out of the loop on everything. Especially being kicked out of your own lab.”

He shrugged. “It is what it is. I guarantee it’s not even close to as hard as it is for
you
to be in the dark on this case.”

“How long do you think it will be before you’re allowed back in the lab?” she asked.

“I don’t imagine they would try to keep me out after tomorrow morning,” he replied. “There are a dozen other cases being handled in the lab right now, and they won’t push them aside forever.” He paused for a moment as he looked at the bottom of her foot. Rilynne was about to ask him what was wrong, when she stopped herself.

“Broken glass,” she stated. He looked up at her curiously, so she continued. “Christopher smashed all of the pictures hanging in the hall the night he faked his death, and I had to walk through it to get to the bedroom. They pulled close to two dozen pieces out, not counting the little slivers. The guys at the station actually insisted on keeping them in a jar in the office. They said it was a testament to my strength. I just saw it as a reminder.”

“Well, you definitely are one of the toughest people I’ve ever met,” he said as he started rubbing her feet again. “Not to mention fearless. I don’t think anyone else would have barged into the station like you did this morning. I’m just glad I was around to see it. I really thought the district attorney’s head was going to explode.”

Rilynne chuckled. “It will definitely be interesting to see how she reacts toward me after this is all cleared up.”

“I imagine it will be the same type of reception I had after everyone thought I was a serial killer,” he chortled. “A lot of guilty looks and uncomfortable smiles.”

“Well, you can bet I won’t walk in and announce to the room that I didn’t turn out to be a killer like they all thought, like you did,” she stated. She couldn’t stop from laughing as she thought back to it. “Oh, how I wish I had gotten that on video. Between your cocky grin and the astonished look on everyone’s face, it was probably one of my favorite moments.”

He shrugged and said, “I just wanted to make sure no one had missed the official announcement.”

Rilynne rolled her eyes.

“Ross still had the best reaction,” he said. “He looked down right livid that I was cleared. I swear I thought for a moment that he was just going to walk out. He hasn’t said a word to me since.”

She wasn’t at all surprised. Her eyes quickly flicked up to the scar just below his hairline, like they did every time she thought of the altercation he had with Officer Ross.

He had walked Rilynne home one night after work and upon leaving her apartment building, was stopped by Ross.

“Breaking in our new detective, I see,” Ross was leaning against the lamppost in front of the building next to hers. “She looks like she would be a bombshell in the sack. Let me know when you are done, I would love to take a shot at that.”

Ben hadn’t said a word before walking up and punching Ross in the face. Ross quickly responded by grabbing Ben’s shirt and slamming his head into the post.

“Well, you don’t have anything to worry about,” he said. “As someone who has been suspected of murder, I happen to know that the team working on it is good at finding out the truth.” He ran his hand gently along her leg. The gentle graze of his fingers sent warm shivers up her leg, causing it to erupt in goose bumps. Ben smiled. “Besides, you have me. They may have kicked me out of my own lab, but that just means I can focus all of my time and energy on helping you figure this out. And we will.”

Rilynne smiled and let her head fall back against the couch. “Well, there’s one thing I know for sure,” she said. “Greene isn’t going to let me anywhere near the station after today.”

“Well, it’s a good thing she has no control over who the detectives associate with after work,” he said. He swung her feet over the edge of the couch. “Get dressed. We’re going out for a drink.”