Her Last Word
“Did Jennifer mention my name to the police? Is my research upsetting you or someone who worked the original investigation?”
“Can we sit?” Another question to answer a question.
She stepped aside but kept the door ajar. As he walked into the space, she noted the faint scent of an expensive aftershave with a woodsy citrus base. His gaze swept every corner and exit.
“Do you have a personal stake in the Gina Mason case?” he asked.
“If you’d bothered to return my call, I could have explained it to you months ago.”
“I’m asking now. What’s your connection to Gina Mason?”
He didn’t apologize or explain why he’d blown her off. She automatically bristled. She wasn’t crazy about cops or their questions. But making an issue out of this inquiry would only lead to more questions. “I was with her the night she vanished.”
“You were a witness?”
“Yes. I tried to tell you that, but you were in a rush to leave the station.”
He studied Gina’s poster. “This is Gina?”
She was losing patience. Cops didn’t ask questions unless they had a good idea of the answer. But for some reason, he wanted to play dumb. “Don’t tell me you decided to finally follow up on my visit and have a lead in the Gina Mason case?”
“As I mentioned when you cornered me several months ago, I was working in the robbery division when she went missing. Our division arrested a guy who later became a suspect in the case. Refresh my memory about the night she vanished.”
“We were walking along Riverside Drive near her parents’ house. A man came out of the woods. He took Gina and told me to run. You arrested Randy Hayward a few months later for stealing from his mother. He got seven years in prison for that and another drug-related charge.”
Memories appeared to click in Adler. “Hayward was caught fencing his mother’s stolen silver a few weeks after Gina disappeared. But Mrs. Hayward reported the robbery the night Gina vanished, placing Randy near Gina and you that night,” he said. “Though he was within walking distance of the crime scene, the cops were never able to make a case against him. There was no physical evidence linking him to Gina.”
She nodded. “His mother hired a good attorney. Cops never got a confession. But most of the cops believed he was involved in the crime.”
His rigid jaw pulsed at the joint. “Why did you invite Jennifer to this lecture?”
“Jennifer was one of the last girls to see Gina alive. There were four of us hanging out by the river the night Gina vanished. Jennifer was one of them. I interviewed her for my podcast.” His grim expression didn’t fit with a man looking into a cold case. “Detective, I’m still not sure why you’re here. Are you here about Gina’s case?”
Some of his edginess softened. “I’ve come from the scene of a homicide. Jennifer Ralston was murdered.”
The blood rushed from her head, leaving her lightheaded and nauseated. Her throat constricted with the rush of emotion. She fought the urge to throw up. “Jennifer? Are you sure it’s Jennifer? I spoke to her five or six hours ago.”
“Yes, I’m sure.” His deep, steady voice left no doubt. “She was found in her home. How did you know her?”
Did. Past tense. Shit, this couldn’t be real. Kaitlin ran a trembling hand through her hair, and he pulled up one of the chairs. She sat and crossed her arms, trying to hold her grief and shock at bay until she got her bearings. “I’ve known her since high school,” she whispered.
“I am sorry. This can’t be easy for you.”
“No.” The swirl of disbelief, anger, and sadness mirrored what she’d experienced after Gina was taken.
“Why are you asking about Gina now?” His tone was softer, kinder, as he pulled up a second chair and sat across from her.
She moistened her lips. This was one of those times she wished she still drank. “Gina was never found. She needs closure.”
“But why you? Is this some kind of artist’s way of pointing out how the cops failed to close this case?”
“They did fail,” she said, cutting her eyes toward Adler.
Less than a foot separated them as he studied her like a puzzle with too many missing pieces. “That’s the reason you decided to open this fourteen-year-old cold case?”
“You need more, Detective Adler?”
“I’ve been a homicide detective too long not to know when there’s more, Kaitlin.”
She blew out a breath, wrestling with her temper and the guilt she’d carried since the night Gina vanished. Lying or avoiding the question might stall him, but it wouldn’t erase what she’d done. “Gina’s kidnapper told me to run. I could have stayed and fought him. I could have tried to save my cousin, but I didn’t. And she’s gone.”
Absently he rubbed the scar on his right hand as he studied her. There might have been a slight softening of the gaze. “Why were you living with your aunt and uncle in high school?”
“My brother killed himself a few years before that. I got into drugs to numb the pain. I started to spiral down fast. My mother thought rehab and a fresh start in Virginia would save me.”
He didn’t speak, letting the silence push her to finish her explanation.
“After I returned to Texas, I thought I was getting on with my life. I was doing well for myself. None of my new friends knew about what had happened here. And then I went to a costume party.” She felt ridiculous articulating the answer.
He looked at her with genuine interest and no hints of judgment. “What does a party have to do with this?”
Despite herself, she could almost imagine he was here to help and they were on the same team. “This time two years ago, I ran the film division of an ad agency. The firm was having a Halloween party.” Telling him what happened was awkward. “It was a costume party, and one of the guys in accounting showed up wearing a clown mask. It had a big grin, a round red nose, arching eyebrows, and orange hair.” She blew out a breath. “The instant I saw it, my chest tightened and I freaked out.”
He was listening very closely.
“The man who took Gina was wearing a clown mask just like that one. There are probably thousands like it in the world. But this one triggered a panic attack.” The episode couldn’t be backpedaled or whitewashed. The skeletons in her closet wouldn’t be ignored any longer.
“And you decided to make a podcast.”
He made it sound so simple. “First, I started by
going back to AA. Without the booze to dull my feelings, I started really thinking about Gina again. I realized what happened fourteen years ago hadn’t left me. I quit my job and moved back to Richmond.”
He removed a notebook and Montblanc from his breast pocket. “Where did you work?”
“Hayes Morgan Advertising Agency.” She hesitated to add information but knew honesty now might help her gain his trust. “When I worked there I went by the name Lyn Tyler.”
He wrote down the name in heavy, bold block letters. “Why change your name?”
“After Gina vanished, I came under media scrutiny. There were a lot of unwanted calls that didn’t let up until I moved back to Texas. I finally started using a different name.”
“So you have what amounts to a panic attack and decide to return to Virginia. You said you spoke to Jennifer. Have you interviewed anyone else?”
“Other than Jennifer—Erika Crowley, anyone who knew Gina, and the now-retired detective assigned to her case. I’m still trying to get an interview with Randy Hayward, but he’s in your city jail facing murder charges and won’t see me.”
He made notes as she spoke and then lifted his gaze to hers. “I need copies of all your interviews, starting with Jennifer’s.”
“The audio files are raw and unedited. I’m not ready to share them yet.”
“I’m investigating a murder. Are you saying you’re refusing to cooperate?” In an instant, challenge stripped away any gentleness in his tone.
Renewed anger crushed whatever connection she’d imagined between them. “So far I’ve gotten no help from you or any other cops. I left a dozen messages with the missing person and homicide departments. And you’re accusing me of not cooperating?”
“You have information, Kaitlin, and I need to see it.”
She stood and slid her palms over her jeans. “I don’t trust cops.”
He stood and towered over her as he shoved the notebook and pen in his breast pocket. “I picked up on that. But that isn’t an excuse to hold back information in a murder investigation.”