But Not For Love, page 11
part #9 of Clint Wolf Series
“But wasn’t that illegal?” I had asked.
“It’s called being creative,” had come his response. “You have to be willing to make those tough decisions when the time comes.”
I hadn’t offered my thoughts at the time, but I’d made a mental note to take most of what he told me with a grain of salt and to remind myself not to blindly do what he told me to do.
Since Susan and I didn’t conduct our business in the manner of my old lieutenant, I just sighed and walked around the back of the trailer to join her.
There was a narrow strip of land between the trailer and the dense forest behind it, and that strip of land was cluttered. Two old ice chests were on the ground pushed up under the edge of the trailer. They were both filled with rusted tools and other junk. A wooden picnic table stood on three shaky legs. The tabletop was littered with pizza boxes, empty beer cans, and a yellow plastic toolbox that had overflowed onto the table. Among the tools that had spilled out were a wooden-handled hammer and two red screwdrivers.
“Did you knock?” Susan asked, disrupting me from my visual inspection of the back yard.
“I banged on the door several times, but there was no movement from inside. Did you hear anything from back here?”
She shook her head. After we stared at the back of the house for a few moments, she pointed in the direction of Cassandra’s car. “If her vehicle’s here, then she’s definitely around here somewhere.”
“Do you think she’s ignoring my knock?”
“She never refused to answer the door before.” Susan pursed her lips. “What if she can’t respond because she’s injured inside the house? Or what if she’s dead? What if Nikia killed her and he’s hiding inside?”
I pondered the possibilities. We’d still need a search warrant, but how would we even know if she was injured or dead? We couldn’t get in the house without a warrant and we couldn’t apply for a warrant unless we knew what had gone on inside the house. The windows to the trailer were set high off the ground and were covered with aluminum foil. Even if they were open, we wouldn’t be able to see inside unless we stood on a ladder. And if Nikia was inside, he wasn’t making a sound.
“I guess you can’t help those who don’t want your help,” I said, my shoulders drooping in resignation. “Our efforts would probably be best served on those who—”
“What the hell was that?” Susan whirled toward the thick wooded area behind the trailer, her right hand dropping to her pistol.
CHAPTER 20
In a hushed voice, Susan told me she’d heard a noise. I hadn’t heard it, but my ears weren’t the best, thanks to years of firearms training—some of it with no hearing protection.
I moved to the left side of a faint trail that cut through the forest, and Susan stepped to the right. We both crouched low and waited, our mouths slightly open as we listened intently. I glanced nervously at Susan. Just by looking at her, it was impossible to tell she was carrying a child, but I knew, and I didn’t want her in the line of fire. I quickly crossed from my side of the trail to hers and crouched in front of her, shielding her from any danger that might be lurking in the deep shadows.
“What are you doing?” she whispered, her breath hot on my ear, causing me to shiver.
“Protecting you and our baby.” Even as the words left my mouth, I realized how foolish they sounded. Susan could take care of herself as well as I could, and it was part of the reason I’d been drawn to her. “I’m acting as your human shield.”
Susan smiled warmly and placed a hand on my back. The smile faded quickly when a twig snapped somewhere deep in the woods.
“There it is again,” she hissed.
I nodded and drew my pistol, and I heard Susan palm hers as well. We sat there motionless, waiting. After a long moment, there was another noise—it sounded like leaves rustling—and Susan squeezed my left arm. I nodded to let her know I’d heard it. It was closer than the snapping twig, and I knew whatever it was that was making the noise was drawing closer to our position.
Is it Cassandra? I thought. What if she had gone for a walk in the trees?
I immediately dismissed the idea. The trail was too faint to be used with any frequency, and I doubted she would just randomly decide to strike out on the path in the middle of the day. If it wasn’t Cassandra, who could it be? Could it be some criminal looking to do her harm? If she was injured or dead inside the trailer, it would make more sense for the suspect to be moving away from the trailer, not toward it. And if I was a betting man, my money would be on Nikia as the suspect.
And if it wasn’t Nikia, who could it be? Or what? It could be a wild animal. Perhaps a deer?
Another twig snapped and this time it was a couple dozen feet in front of me. The muscles in my legs tensed and I prepared to spring forward like a panther striking its prey. The underbrush was thick and the shadows dark, but I caught sight of movement through the leaves and I could tell the image was shaped like a human.
I pointed to let Susan know the person was almost upon us, and then I gave a signal to let her know I was about to step out in the open. Not knowing what I was confronting, I kept my pistol in my hand, but decided to keep it down by my side.
When the individual was close enough for me to hear it breathing, I straightened and stepped into the path. I immediately recognized that it was Nikia striding toward me, as though he didn’t have a care in the world. He was actually smiling to himself, but his expression turned to shock when he saw me. He lurched backward and screamed a little.
“Damn it! You scared the shit out of me!” He planted his feet and didn’t move. “What the hell are you doing here? I thought Cassandra told you to get off of her property.”
His hands were empty, so I slipped my pistol back into my holster. The move didn’t go unnoticed by Nikia and he gulped.
In my peripheral vision, I saw Susan move to my left, where she took up a fighting stance and watched Nikia carefully. If he decided to fight, I didn’t want her getting involved, but I knew I couldn’t stop her. My best shot would be to diffuse the situation and keep Nikia calm.
“We’re here on a welfare concern,” I said. “We tried to make contact with Cassandra, but she won’t come to the door.”
Nikia grunted, not buying it. “That’s because she went to the store.”
I shot a thumb over my shoulder. “Did she walk? Because her car is parked out front.”
“Then she’s home.”
“Are you sure about that?” I asked. “We banged on the door and she didn’t answer. We didn’t even hear movement from inside.”
Nikia scowled, took a cautious step toward us. “She should be inside. She might be sleeping or taking a shower. When she’s in the shower she can’t hear me even if I’m standing outside the bathroom door.”
I relaxed a little and stepped back to let him know it was okay for him to pass. “Do you want to go inside and check to see if that’s the case?”
“Um, is this a trick?” He hesitated and licked his lips. “Are you trying to talk me into entering the house so you can arrest me? Because you’ve got no call to do that. I haven’t stepped foot in the house since she had that restraining order, but she told me she dropped it today, so that’s the only reason I’m here.”
I glanced quickly at Susan and then back toward Nikia. “She dropped the restraining order?” My voice betrayed my disapproval.
“Yeah, that’s why she was gone most of the afternoon.”
I hadn’t known she was gone most of the afternoon. Baylor Rice, who was Susan’s newest police officer, had set up on the trailer earlier in the morning but had been called away to handle a drunk driving incident. He left about two hours after Susan and I had last checked on Cassandra, and he reported seeing Cassandra once, and only briefly.
“She opened the door and threw something from a frying pan,” he had told Susan while booking his drunk driver earlier. “She looked fine. I used my binoculars to try and see inside the residence, but I couldn’t see the husband anywhere.”
Baylor had said the sighting had taken place a little after one o’clock, and it was now approaching five. I hadn’t checked the hood on Cassandra’s car, so I didn’t know if it was hot or not. If Nikia was telling the truth, then Cassandra had to have left for the store after Baylor saw her and returned before we arrived. But how did Nikia know about the trip to the store if he wasn’t here?
“If you haven’t been here since the restraining order was first signed, then how’d you know she went to the store today?” I pressed. “How would you know anything that happened here?”
“She called me and told me.”
I started to ask to see his phone, but I realized he was growing suspicious again. If we wanted to see inside that trailer, we needed his cooperation.
“So,” I began slowly, “is it your statement that Cassandra called and told you she dropped the restraining order against you?”
“Yes sir.”
I turned to Susan and shrugged. “I guess that means he has rights to the house again.”
Susan nodded. “Yep, he’s got the authority to go inside and check on Cassandra.”
I stepped back a little farther to let him know I wouldn’t try to stop him from entering the trailer. “You’re free to go inside and check on your wife.”
He hesitated again, not trusting us. “Are you sure this isn’t a trick?”
“No, we’re genuinely concerned for her safety.” I waved toward the house impatiently. “Now, go check on your wife before I break the damn door down and check on her myself.”
“Will y’all stay out here? I know Cassandra doesn’t want y’all in our house, especially if she’s in the shower.”
“We’ll wait near the back door.” I pointed to a spot near the picnic table. “Right over there.”
He hesitated a moment longer, but then finally nodded. “Okay, I’ll go check on her, but she won’t be happy that y’all are back. She’s growing tired of the harassment.”
Without responding, Susan and I followed him at a distance that would make him feel comfortable, and then waited while he stood on the top step and fished a key from the front pocket of his jeans.
“Just to be clear, I’m not consenting to y’all coming in the house,” he said when he had unlocked the knob. “Cassandra wouldn’t want it.”
I raised a hand, nodded. “I understand. We’ll just wait out here while you check to make sure she’s okay.”
Nikia nodded and turned back toward the door. Once it was open, he stuck his head inside and hollered for Cassandra.
“Those detectives are back,” he called, disappearing down the hallway to the right, “and they want to make sure you’re okay. They claim they had a welfare call or something.”
No, I thought, I very specifically said we were here on a welfare concern and I didn’t mention how or why we came to be here.
I moved up on the steps so I could see down the hallway. Doors slammed from the right side of the trailer and I could hear Nikia calling out to Cassandra. Susan and I traded glances.
“She isn’t responding,” Susan said. “That can’t be good.”
I put a foot on the top step and watched as Nikia rushed by, heading toward the left end of the hall.
“Cassandra!” His voice sounded shrill. “Where the hell are you?”
“Clint, I think we need to go inside—”
“Holy shit!” Nikia’s voice was laced with fear and panic. I heard his feet stomp loudly against the hollow floor as he raced back toward the rear door. “Help her! Oh, God, detectives, please help her!”
CHAPTER 21
Before I could make it through the door, Nikia had lunged outside and smashed right into me. My footing was good, and he bounced off of my shoulder and tumbled off of the steps. He landed hard on the ground and Susan stopped to check on him.
“It’s bad…it’s so bad!” Nikia wailed.
I instinctively glanced down as I stepped over the threshold and froze in place, one foot in the air. There were a few small drops of blood just inside the doorway, and they extended down the hall to the left toward what looked like a living room. I sighed heavily.
“This can’t be good,” I mumbled, realizing the drops of blood grew more plentiful as they went along. A million thoughts raced through my mind as I carefully picked my way deeper into the trailer, making sure to hug the wall as I walked.
I was suspicious of Nikia. We had caught him coming back to the house, but where had he gone? What if he had done something bad here and then made off through the woods to destroy the evidence and to clean off? Judging by the amount of blood I was finding on the floor, he would surely have gotten blood on his clothes.
When I finally reached the end of the hall, I could see into the living room and that’s when I saw her.
Cassandra Billiot, the nice manager from Mechant Groceries who had helped me on more than one occasion, was lying on her back near a recliner and she was obviously deceased. There was blood on the floor around her body. It was also smeared on her face and arms. Her eyes and mouth were open wide, as though she had died in mid-scream.
As I took it all in, a chilling thought occurred to me: This looks a lot like Allie Boudreaux’s murder scene!
I heard footsteps behind me and glanced over my shoulder to see Susan making her way carefully to where I stood. She gasped when she reached me and looked into the living room.
“Dear Lord.” Susan paused to take in the scene before us. It was a gruesome one. There was a large red screwdriver protruding from Cassandra’s chest, and her torso was littered with stab wounds that were made visible by the holes in her shirt. From our vantage point, and thanks to the glow from a lamp on an end table near Cassandra’s body, we could see stab wounds to her neck and face.
I took a step back and scowled. Susan looked up at me and there was a deep frown on her face.
“She suffered, Sue,” I said softly. “She suffered horribly.”
Susan nodded, swallowing hard and averting her eyes. “Do you think Nikia did this? Or do you think…”
Her voice trailed off and I knew she was mentally connecting this case to Allie’s.
“I don’t know, but we’ve got some work to do.”
“Maybe we should involve Mallory,” she suggested. “If this is related to the other homicide, it would be better to make her a part of this from the beginning.”
I nodded in agreement, and she offered to take Nikia to the office.
“I’ll let Mallory step in and help you with the scene,” she said, turning toward the back door. “To be honest, I don’t feel like myself. I feel queasy.”
I stepped closer to her, suddenly concerned. “What do you mean? Are you okay? Do you need to go to the doctor?”
“No…I’m pregnant, not sick.” She exhaled forcefully. “I can hardly look at raw ground beef without gagging, so I know I’ll lose my lunch if I have to process this scene with you.”
I was relieved that she was okay. Once we were outside in the front yard, I asked if she could take a detailed statement from Nikia, who was sitting in the back of my Tahoe crying hysterically—she had placed him there before joining me in the crime scene.
“Sure.” Susan got on her radio and instructed Baylor to proceed to the scene to give her and Nikia a ride to the police department. Takecia was on regular duty working her day shift, but Baylor had picked up an extra hitch to help out with calls. Since finding out she was pregnant, she had gradually started limiting her response to calls for service, and, for that, I was thankful.
“I’d like to get Nikia pinned down to a story before he starts thinking about asking for a lawyer.” I was studying Nikia’s reaction from where we were standing. “He’s freaking out right now, so we might get him to utter something incriminating in his excitement.”
Susan nodded.
I pulled out my phone to call Mallory. It went to voicemail so I left a message. We were still standing there when Baylor drove up in his marked police car. He stepped out and moved toward us, his uniform nearly standing up on its own from the starch. A former Marine, he took great pride in keeping his uniform clean and his leather spit-shined. Myself, I was more into functionality than appearance, but I liked Baylor.
“Is that the guy?” Baylor asked when he reached us. “Did he kill the woman?”
“It’s hard to say for sure.” I frowned. Nikia was flailing in the back seat like a caged animal, appearing desperate for the pain to stop. I knew that feeling all too well, but I didn’t know if I should feel sorry for him or want to kick his ass. There were really only two choices here—he either did it or he didn’t—and I wasn’t sure if he was a good actor or if he was in real pain.
“I saw her earlier and she was fine.” Baylor’s voice was somber. “I can’t believe she’s dead. I… Do you think I should’ve stayed and guarded the house? Maybe I could’ve stopped what happened here.”
“Don’t even go there,” I said. “There’s nothing you could’ve done to stop this. The killer apparently approached through the back door, so you wouldn’t have seen—”
“Wait a minute! So, it’s possible I was here when it happened? That I sat out here and did nothing?”
My phone rang before I could answer. I glanced at the screen and saw it was Mallory returning my call.
“I’ve got this,” Susan said, ushering Baylor toward the back of his car and explaining in her motherly voice that we couldn’t be there to save everyone all of the time. I knew she would counsel him and he would be okay. He took his job very seriously and he wanted to save everyone. I admired that quality, but it could also make it difficult for him to cope with failure. With time, though, I knew he would strike the right balance and be just fine.
“You’re not going to believe this,” I said when I answered Mallory’s call. “Cassandra Billiot is dead, stabbed repeatedly inside her home. There’s no sign of forced entry and it happened while Nikia was away.”
There was a long pause and then she cursed. “Did Nikia come home and find her dead?”
