Protector - Laurel Dewey [205]
I don’t know who to turn to right now and I sure as hell don’t know who the fuck to trust. You’re the only one I’ve told this to. You can’t tell Patricia. She’d go fucking nuts. I just figured after your offer of help, that if I got it in writing, you’d have proof if anything happens to me. Keep this letter like we talked about. If they kill me, maybe this’ll hold up in court and Yvonne and Amy will at least know that I tried to do the right thing. I’ve done the wrong thing for so long and fucked up my life and the lives of my family. If the mob does take me out, at least I’ll’die with some integrity.
Please hide this letter in a safe place until everything blows over. And watch out for yourself and your family, okay? Knowing me isn’t safe right now.
Your friend, Bill
Jane handed the letter back to Weyler. “ ‘Nobody takes me out.’ That’s what Chris said up on the water tower. They threatened to kill him if he didn’t do the murders. Do we know any of the other players that Stover was going to give up?”
“No.”
“So, you’re telling me that every single one of those victims died for nothing?”
“That’s what I’m saying,” Weyler said somberly as he placed the plastic bag with the letter into his briefcase.
“How did we miss the connection between the Stovers and the Lawrences?”
“Chris ran some pretty good diversion tactics. Hey, we checked computers, email, interviewed coworkers—”
“There were photos of them together, boss!”
“Yeah, I just saw them inside when I talked to Emily.”
“They were stuck way in the back of Emily’s bedside table drawer. I had a helluva time prying them loose. But I never once thought to look through them!”
“The ball got dropped on that one, but everything else we did was thorough. Look, it’s damn difficult to put two and two together when someone on the inside is constantly screwing with the equation.”
“You know, every time I sat in this house and tried to piece the case together, I never once considered Chris in the mix. I thought . . . I thought it was you.”
Weyler looked at Jane. “How did you reason that one out?”
“You put me in a town with no backup. You make a point not to inform Sheriff George. I can only talk to you and no one else. And you’re always talking about your ‘connections’ and people who owe you favors. I mean, come on, boss. It all added up.”
“Well, let’s see. I put you in a town with no backup because there was no viable reason to get others involved and we didn’t want to attract unnecessary attention. As far as I was concerned, you were just laying low until we caught a break in the case. I chose not to inform the sheriff because I was told that Sheriff George can’t keep his mouth shut. I only wanted you to talk to me because, once again, it simplifies everything. As for my ‘connections,’ well, what can I say? You hang around long enough, you have connections. It doesn’t mean they’re nefarious in nature. That was just the spin you decided to put on the word.”
“Then tell me this: when I was going through the Lawrence file, the Property Report Form from the crime scene was missing. Why did you leave that one page out of my pack?”
“One of the evidence techs must have forgotten to copy it and send it upstairs.”
Jane wasn’t expecting that simple an answer. “They forgot to make a copy?”
“Apparently so.” Jane shook her head in stunned silence. “So, Detective, if you don’t mind my asking, how are you doing?”
Jane stared off into space. “Oh, shit, boss. I don’t know. When I woke