Senseless (Alexandria Novels 1)

But Lou knew the dark secret the girls harbored.

And soon the entire world would know as well….

Chapter 15

Monday, April 10, 8:50 A.M.

Garrison dropped a file on Malcolm’s desk. “Have a look at this.”

Malcolm glanced up from a stack of papers to the file. “What’s that?”

“It’s a collection of articles written on the Cross murder trial.”

“From a decade ago?”

“Correct. I printed them off the Net yesterday.”

“You were busy. I’m guessing all you did yesterday was read?”

Garrison took the seat in front of Malcolm’s desk. He’d been restless when he’d gotten home from King’s and hadn’t been able to sleep. Thoughts of Eva tugged at him. “I read the articles several times and at first missed a key detail. Glance through the files and tell me if there’s something that jumps out at you.”

Malcolm shrugged. “Can’t you just tell me?”

“Humor me, okay?”

“Sure, I’ll bite.” He opened the file and started to thumb through the pages. “What am I looking for?”

“Just study the pictures. Something jumped out at me and I want to be sure someone who’s had a full night of sleep sees what I saw.”

“I didn’t sleep much last night either.”

“Was it Sharon or Ellie this time?”

“Sadly, neither lady visited me last night. ”

“Too bad.”

Malcolm continued to thumb through the pages. Nothing caught his eye until he paused and turned the page back. He leaned forward, frowning. “This is the picture of the courthouse after the verdict. ”

He’d found the picture Garrison had spotted. In this image, Darius Cross stood in front of the courthouse with a dozen reporters’ microphones pointed toward him. Darius smiled grimly, his eyes sparkling with a chilling malevolence.

The woman who stood behind Cross stared at him with an intensity that telegraphed anger.

“The woman in the background. She’s younger. Not more than twenty. And she looks like Angie Carlson.”

Garrison nodded. “That’s what I thought so I did some checking. Turns out Eva Rayburn had an older half sister, Angelina. When their mother died, Eva was fifteen so she went into foster care. Angie stayed with her father. ”

Malcolm whistled as he sat back in his chair. “Well, ain’t this a small, small world.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Did Eva Rayburn ever mention that she had a sister? ”

“I didn’t ask directly about siblings but it was the kind of thing that should have come up.”

“She has a talent for omitting critical details. ”

“Or maybe she was protecting her sister.”

“Do you think Angie knows Eva’s back in Alexandria? ”

“That I don’t know. But I’d like to find out.”

“All comes back to Eva. She moved back to town six months ago and victims start showing up.”

“Let’s have a chat with Angie Carlson and see what she knows about Eva.”

Malcolm rose. “Let me do the honors on this interview. Ms. Carlson led me by the nose during the Dixon trial cross-examination and nothing would give me greater pleasure than to drop a bomb like that on her.”

“She was doing her job during that trial. She broke no laws when she defended her client.”

“Legal doesn’t always mean moral. And as far as I’m concerned, she’s slime. My first priority is to get information for the case, and if I happen to make Ms. Carlson squirm, then all the better. ”

Angie pushed through he front doors of Wellington and James and for the first time in as long as she could remember, she felt good. Happy. Oddly content. She could thank Jim for the smile. They’d spent last night together and it had been pure bliss.

She tossed an unexpected smile to the receptionist.

“Don’t tell me the world has come to an end?” The receptionist peered over glasses.

“What?”

“You’re smiling.”

“Why not? It’s a great day.” Having a connection with someone was something she’d not had in a very long time.

“Well, climb down off of cloud nine,” Iris quipped.

“Why?”

“Two cops are waiting for you in the conference room. ”

She clung to her newfound happiness. “Did they say what they wanted?”

“You know cops. They never come clean.”

“Point taken. So who’s here?”

“Garrison and Kier.”

“Great.”

Angie squared her shoulders as she moved down the carpeted hallway. She found Garrison and Kier sitting in the chairs at the head of the polished table. They looked relaxed, as if they owned the place. “Gentlemen, to what do I owe the pleasure? Do you have questions about Danvers?”

Garrison rose first. Kier took his time coming to his feet.

Kier looked annoyed, but he always did. And she’d pissed him off big time during the trial a few months back. She guessed her attempt to bring Danvers in hadn’t mattered for much. So be it. “Ms. Carlson, we have something else we’d like to discuss.”

“Sure.” Jerk. She closed the conference-room door and took a seat on the opposite side of the table.

She folded her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair, expecting to do battle. “Let’s have it.”

Both sat. Kier pulled out a file, opened it and glanced down as if he had all the time in the world. “What can you tell me about your sister?”

If he’d sucker punched her in the gut, he couldn’t have knocked the wind out of her better. “What does my sister have to do with anything? ”

Kier glanced at the file but she suspected he knew all the details by heart. “Her name is Eva.”

“That’s correct.”

“She was convicted of manslaughter?”

“I’m sure your little file has already told you that she was convicted ten years ago. She’s been out of jail over six months.”

“When is the last time you saw her? ”

In her office, she asked the questions. “What’s this about? I can’t imagine my family dramas would be of any interest to you.”

Malcolm rubbed his hand over his chin, already dark with stubble. “It just might. Have you seen your sister lately?”

She wasn’t about to dig into a wound for their pleasure or curiosity. “Is this payback for the Dixon case?”

Kier’s eyes darkened. “No, ma’am. You’ve got every right to set bad guys free.”

“I did my job, Detective. If this is some kind of harassment, then you can get the hell out of here.”

“We all got our jobs to do. Isn’t that what you said?”

She pushed away from the table. “I don’t know what this is about, but I’m in no mood for games, Detective Kier. ”

“We’ve an active murder investigation,” Garrison said. “Your sister’s name came up.”

Angie sat down. “A local murder investigation?”

“That’s right,” Kier said.

“Then you have the wrong person. Eva hasn’t been back to Alexandria since her conviction. No doubt because she didn’t trust the cops in this area.”

Angie had arranged a homecoming party for her sister the day of her release. She had decorated her apartment with yellow balloons. On the day of Eva’s release, she’d driven to Richmond only to discover Eva had already left prison a few days before.

“Your sister is back in Alexandria,” Garrison said.

And the second punch landed in her gut with as much force as the first. “What?” Her voice barely rose above a strained whisper.

“She’s living in Old Town. She’s been back for six months. And she’s changed her last name to Rayburn.”

Angie’s stomach churned. Betrayed. Even embarrassed that she had to find out this way.

Kier studied her face. “You didn’t know?”

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nbsp; It shamed her to have to admit to such a thing. “No, no, I did not.”

“When’s the last time you spoke to her?” His voice almost sounded softer, as if he pitied her.

Angie lifted her chin. “Ten years. It was after her sentencing. She told me she didn’t want anything to do with me again.”

“Why not?” Garrison said.

Angie tipped her head back, swearing she would not cry over this. “She said she couldn’t survive in jail knowing the outside world moved forward without her. ”

“You never saw her again?”

“No.”

She pressed trembling fingertips to her brow. “How long did you say she’d been back?”

“About six months,” Kier said.

Six months. Back in town and living so close they could walk to see each other. And they’d never met. “You said something about a murder investigation?”

“We’ve had two women murdered,” Garrison said. “Both stabbed to death. And coincidentally the same case Danvers was associated with.”