Deception with Murder (A Rilynne Evans Mystery Book Two) Read online

  “Uh huh. And how long is my bedroom going to be a workshop in your mind?” she asked playfully.

  After stammering for a few seconds, it was clear that he could not think of a response. As much as she wanted to let him continue, she decided to rescue him. “You’re pretty great. How about I add a steak dinner along with those drinks?”

  “Sounds good,” he replied. “So, tell me about the case.”

  Rilynne groaned as she climbed up onto her abnormally tall king-size bed. “What all did Tylers tell you?”

  “Not much. Just that the victim was an undercover cop who had been found in a vacant house by Detective Steele’s sister. He also said that Steele’s sister was beautiful and single, but I don’t see what that had to do with anything.” He had a bit of a tone with his last statement that sounded as if he was fishing for a reaction, but Rilynne ignored it.

  “The victim is Shane Villarreal. Did you know him?”

  “I’ve heard the name, but I don’t think that we have ever met. What happened to him?” he asked.

  “He was shot three times and left in a vacant house. That’s not the strange part, though,” she explained. “It appears that the perpetrator then planted drugs in his nose and pockets to make it appear like a drug related death.”

  “And there’s no way the drugs were actually his?”

  “Not according to Dr. Andrews. Plus, anyone who knew him has said that there’s no way he would have gotten caught up in any kind of drug activity,” she replied. “They were all pretty adamant about it.”

  “Interesting.” He paused to think over everything. “So the perpetrator would have to be someone who didn’t know him well.”

  “My thoughts exactly,” she said with an impressed tone. “I told you you’d make a good detective.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” he pushed off the compliment. “What physical evidence is there?”

  “There was skin pulled from under his nails, and an unknown black substance taken from his hair. There are also the drugs to analyze and the bullets from the wall and the body. There was quite a bit of blood, also.”

  “Sounds like I’m going to have a busy day tomorrow. Do you know who was working the scene today?” he asked with almost a worried tone. Rilynne knew he was not very pleased with the performance of the new crime scene investigator that had been hired to replace Nicole Benson. While she was capable, she was not up to Ben’s standards.

  “Daniel Summers.”

  “Good. Then he should have plenty of blood samples to run. He’s actually the best blood guy I have ever worked with. He can read it almost as well as you can read people.”

  Rilynne was still smiling when she continued. “Let me ask you something. You know quite a bit of the officer related talk.” It was more of a statement than a question. Prior to trying to kill him, Nicole and Ben had actually been very close, and she had been the office gossip. Nothing seemed to happen in the department that Nicole did not know about.

  “More than I would like to. Why, what do you want to know?”

  “We interviewed an officer Julio Vega today. He was Villarreal’s closest friend, but Matthews and I both noticed he was hiding something. I was just wondering if you had heard anything about him or Villarreal?” she asked.

  “Julio Vega I do know, but I haven’t heard anything about him. From what I have seen, though, he’s on the straight and narrow.”

  “It was worth a shot. Well, I’m going to go try out my big new bathtub and climb into bed. Thank you again for all of the help. I’ll see you tomorrow, I’m sure.”

  “See you then.”

  Despite the size of her whirlpool bathtub, it took surprisingly little time to fill up. Rilynne poured herself a glass of wine and put on some smooth music before sliding down under the bubbles. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back onto the built in headrest. It had barely touched down when a scene started to develop in front of her.

  Ben was sitting in the middle of her bedroom floor, screwdriver between his teeth, as he positioned the pieces of her bed together. His shirt was off and sitting on the stack of boxes by the door, so she could see the beads of sweat running down his back. Rilynne felt her eyebrow rise involuntarily. Then he was carrying the boxes, two or three at a time, through the bathroom and into the closet. After moving the last box, he glided his hand gently along the side of her assembled and made bed, adjusting the sheets one last time before grabbing his shirt and heading for the bathroom. He ran the water in the sink, splashing it on his face before using his shirt to pat his sweat soaked body dry.

  “Mmmm,” she said on a low moan as she opened her eyes. She had given up denying the feelings she had been having when it came to Ben. Although she knew nothing would ever be able to come from it, she had been unable to prevent herself from feeling them. It had been easier when the department had the strict no-fraternization rule, because it set a clear line that she knew she could never cross. Detective Wilcome had informed her, however, that the rule had been eradicated, which left her free to pursue a relationship with him if she so desired. The only barrier in place now was Christopher.

  Christopher was Rilynne’s husband, who had been attacked by her old partner fifteen months before. Though his body was never found, based on the amount of blood left and the fact that there had been no signs of him since that night, he was believed to be dead.

  That did not stop Rilynne from holding on. Christopher had been her college sweetheart, and the only person, other than her mother, to know of her secret. In her heart, they were still very much married.

  That deep dedication, along with her feelings for Ben, left her twisted and confused inside. In some ways, she still felt like she was cheating on Christopher by just having feelings toward another man.

  She reached up with her toe and pulled the drain on the tub, but did not move until all of the water was gone. By the time she climbed out and wrapped a towel around her, it was just past midnight. Rilynne hesitated, staring at the pile of boxes in her closet before deciding against searching for pajamas. She climbed into her soft bed, pulling her down comforter over her still damp body, and drifted into an instant sleep the moment her eyes shut.

  The sun was shining through the canopy of trees above. The path ahead of her was lined in red leaves, making it look like a trail of flower petals. As she started to move forward, she could feel her feet taking off beneath her. The archway made by the trees lining the path became a blur as her feet carried her even faster. She felt free, as if she could fly if she wanted to.

  Her eyes moved to the end of the path in front of her. A bright light the size of a pinprick was shining from just above the red trail. With each long stride, it grew larger and brighter until it was the size of a large door. By the time she reached it, the light was so bright that she could not keep her eyes open a second longer.

  Suddenly the scene around her grew darker. She opened her eyes to find herself standing on the side of the lake, just before sunset. She was considering jumping in for a quick swim when she heard voices coming from the small grove of trees behind her.

  “Who’s there?” she called out, unable to make out their faces.

  “We’ve been waiting for you,” a familiar voice said. “What took you so long?”

  Her heart jumped up in her throat as she stepped toward the trees. As she grew closer, she could make out a table set up in the middle of the small cluster. Of the three chairs placed around it, two of them had already been filled. The first held a tall man with neatly combed brunette hair and vibrant green eyes. He smiled warmly as she stared down at him.

  “Christopher,” she said softly. “What are you doing here?”

  “Waiting for you, of course,” he said. “We expected you almost an hour ago.”

  Rilynne pulled her gaze away from him and found the man occupying the other chair. Even though there was not a trace of wind, his dirty blond hair was dancing around his face. As a streak of light flashed across his face, the gold flecks is his
warm brown eyes sparkled brighter than she had ever seen them.

  “Ben, where did you find Christopher?” she asked. “I’ve been looking for him for fifteen months. How did you find him so fast?”

  He reached down and pulled a beer out of the cooler near his feet. “You look exhausted,” he said as he placed it on the table in front of her. “Sit down and tell us about your day. How was work?”

  She looked from Ben to Christopher, then back before pulling the chair out and lowering herself into it.

  “I don’t understand. What are you two doing here?” She looked at them again even more bewildered than before.

  “So, darling, how was work? Are you making any headway on your case?” Instead of Christopher, it was Ben who asked.

  “Darling?” she mumbled to herself. “It’s, uh… it’s only just started. We will hopefully know more tomorrow when we speak to his wife. Did you just call me darling?”

  Both men started to chuckle. “Why wouldn’t he?” Christopher asked as he took a swig of his beer.

  Rilynne couldn’t think of anything to say. She just leaned back in her chair, staring at both of them. Finally, she reached down and swallowed her beer in one gulp. After a few seconds of silence, the men went back to the conversation they had been having before she walked up. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought they had been close friends for years. They were joking and carrying on as if it were an everyday occurrence.

  A mix of emotions suddenly overcame her. On one hand she was happy that they were getting along so well, but on the other she felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. No matter how well they were getting along, or how all right he seemed to be with the relationship developing between her and Ben, Christopher was still her husband.

  “I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” she said, interrupting them. “Where have you been? Why haven’t you told me? You know I can help you if you only tell me where to look.”

  Christopher smiled and placed his hand on hers. “You know that’s not how your visions work, my love.”

  Rilynne’s eyes shot to Ben, but he did not appear to have a reaction to the statement. “I haven’t been able to see you at all, other than just flashbacks and an odd dream here or there. Why haven’t you let me talk to you? Where are you?”

  “Nowhere that you will ever be able to find me,” he said kindly.

  Her eyes shot open as the hum of a lawn mower just outside her bedroom window flooded in. She pulled her pillow over her head before giving up and reaching for her phone, just after seven. “Who the hell mows the grass at seven in the morning?” she yelled, despite knowing that no one would be able to hear her. She threw the pillow at her footboard and slid off of the edge of the bed.

  After quickly showering and getting dressed, she grabbed a muffin and filled her travel mug with coffee before headed for the door. She had only made it a few steps down the walkway when the humming stopped and a voice called out from just behind the shrubs lining her yard.

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t think anyone would be moving in until the end of next week,” the man said. His dark hair, just a little shorter than Ben’s, was held out of his face by a backwards baseball cap. His tight black shirt showed every muscle he had, stopping just below the waistline of his oil stained cargo shorts. “I wanted to get it mowed before you moved in, and this was the only time I had free all week. I’m so sorry if I woke you up.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” she said warmly. “I had to be up for work anyway.”

  “Dad,” yelled a small voice from behind him. “We have to go. I’m going to be late!”

  Rilynne peaked around him to see a young boy, no older than eight, standing on the front porch with a schoolbag in hand.

  “Sorry, that’s my son. I’m afraid he gets his lack of patience from my late wife,” he said as he turned toward the boy. “Harper, can’t you see that I’m talking to our new neighbor? Where are your manners?” Harper mumbled something that sounded like an apology as he sat down on the step.

  “I’m Joe Ackerman, by the way,” he said, holding out a hand. “And that’s my son, Harper. If you wind up with any balls or toys in your yard, they’re probably his.”

  “I’m Rilynne Evans,” she said, taking his hand. “It’s nice to meet you. Well, don’t let me keep you,” she said with a smile as she started again toward her car.

  *

  “Evans,” Wilcome called out as she placed her purse on the corner of her desk. “Were you able to get anywhere with the reports?”

  “We’re about half way through them, but so far nothing stands out,” she said, dropping down in her chair. “We should be finished going through the rest of them by lunch time.”

  “Good, let me know,” he said, walking back to his desk in the corner.

  She was on her third report when Detective Matthews walked in and took his seat. “I was beginning to worry,” she said, taking in his disheveled appearance. “Is everything okay?”

  He nodded, rubbing his hands over his tired looking face. “I was up until almost three with Katy. She always takes it hard when an officer is injured or killed, but she knew Shane very well. We end up having the same conversation every time there’s an incident about me taking a desk job and staying away from the ‘danger of the streets.’”

  “I don’t imagine that was fun.”

  “No,” he replied. “It really wasn’t. Usually we only get into it once every year or two, but this was twice in two months.”

  “When was the last one?” She gave him a puzzled look.

  “You and Ben Davis,” he said firmly.

  “Ah,” she nodded. “Sorry about that.”

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like you did it on purpose.” He pulled the reports out of his drawer and started flipping through them. Rilynne was glad he had looked away so he didn’t notice the guilt on her face. “Have you found anything?”

  “Nothing about who might have had a problem with him,” she said, thumbing through the reports. “The ones I have managed to go through this morning were about the same as the others. He did note that he believed the operation was run on a tier system.” Matthews leaned back in his chair and listened. “At the top he believed there were two men who ran everything. They chose the homes and arranged the robberies. The next level was the actual home invaders. He thought there were two separate groups, but he wasn’t positive. The last group was in charge of fencing the objects and handling the money. They were the only ones he had any direct contact with. That was up until three months ago, at least.”

  “Okay,” he said, grabbing the files and pushing up out of his chair. “Let’s lay this out.” Rilynne followed him as he carried everything to the conference room. “Tylers,” he called out. “Can you grab me a white board?”

  When Tylers wheeled one in a few moments later, Matthews grabbed a marker and started drawing on it. “We know from the victims that there were always three men performing the breakins. So, if his information was correct, that puts six men here-” he drew six empty rectangles down the middle of the board. “-and two on top.” He added the two rectangles above them. “Now, we know these two men handled selling the items and depositing the funds into their account.” He taped the pictures of the two men at the bottom of the board.

  “We just need to find out who the rest of the men in the operation are.” Rilynne stepped back and looked at the board. “So Villarreal was the fourth tier,” she thought aloud. “The men on the second level would hand off the stolen property to this man-” she pointed to the picture on the bottom right, “-and he delivered everything to Villarreal. He ‘sold it’-” she threw up air quotes, “-and gave the money to the other one, and he deposited it into the account. So this guy replaced the one that we arrested?”

  “Yeah. There were originally three men, two handling the property and one making the deposits, but when we grabbed one, they just shuffled around a little.”

  “Well, with that many people involved, how
were we able to re-seize the funds before they were distributed?”

  “That I don’t know,” he said, leaning against the table. “From these reports, nearly all of the money was still in the account. I do know that not all of the stolen property was delivered to Villarreal. My guess is that the second level guys are keeping some for themselves to hold them over until they split the profits. From what Villarreal noted, it doesn’t appear that they were informed after the account was cleaned out. At least, the level three men weren’t. I imagine that would have caused some trouble in the ranks.”

  “Okay.” She pulled out a chair and dropped down in it. “Let’s get through the rest of these reports and see if he had found anything that could help us. I have a feeling we’re going to have to wait until we find his journal before we get any real leads, though.”

  Three hours had passed by the time they laid down the last reports. “Well, it says here that he was pushing to move up to the second level. He was requesting to meet with the ring leaders for a shot.”

  “Does is say if he was able to set up a meeting?” Matthews asked.

  She shook her head. “That was in the last report he had submitted.”

  “Let’s grab lunch and head over to see his wife. She may be able to fill us in a little bit more. After that we should probably swing by his undercover apartment and see if we can find anything of use,” he said as he walked through the office toward the elevator. Rilynne quickly grabbed her purse and followed.

  It seemed like all eyes were on them as they walked through the front lobby. Rilynne was sure at this point that everyone within the station had heard about Villarreal’s murder and that they were the detectives working the case. Although she knew that all of the smiles and head nods were signs of support, having everyone watching them made her uneasy. She was glad a few moments later when they stepped out of the front doors onto the vacant sidewalk.

  “How long have they been married?” Rilynne asked as she slid into the passenger seat of his car.