The secrets they keep, p.23
The Secrets They Keep, page 23
“What is it?” Tarek asked.
She took the paper off and slid a ceramic mug out from beneath it with the letter S on it.
“A mug?” Tarek said. “Okay, maybe have your personal deliveries sent to your home instead of here next time.”
“I didn’t order this….” She muttered as he left the room.
Mac hadn’t turned back around, but he hadn’t written anything on the board either.
I mentioned wanting a mug before. Did he remember and order me one?
She cleared her throat. “It doesn’t say who it’s from.”
“I ordered it,” Mac said before writing down the circumstantial evidence they had against Brad Hensen. “Back when the case first started.”
He went out of his way to do this for me…
“Oh, well, thanks, Mac. I love it—”
“It’s nothing,” he mumbled before turning around. “Okay, you ready to go bring Brad in?”
She nodded and stood, leaving the mug on the table as they left the room.
Besides Madigan’s random acts of kindness, that’s the sweetest thing anyone has done for me since I moved to Tall Pines. Maybe even before that.
“Bring Mr. Hensen back,” Mac told Rhonda before walking down the hallway. Rhonda opened the door and led Brad through.
“Detective Sheppard,” Brad said, nodding.
“Good morning,” she said, walking beside him. “Thanks for coming in to talk with us.”
“Of course,” he said. “I’ve got a job interview in Amherst at ten though, so—”
“This shouldn’t take that long.”
Rhonda waved them into a small room where Mac already sat at the table.
“Mr. Hensen.” He gestured for Brad to take a seat across from him as Grace shut the door behind them. “How are you?”
“Fine, thanks,” Brad said. “I’ll be better if I get this job I’m interviewing for.”
“I told him it wouldn’t take too long,” Grace said, sitting next to Mac.
“Right, I’ll cut to the chase,” Mac said. “We’ve got some new evidence through our investigation, and we wanted to ask you some questions to get some insight.”
“Okay,” Brad said, rolling his tongue against his teeth. “What kind of evidence?”
“Where were you the night Cory was murdered?” Grace asked.
“You’ve already asked me that.” Brad frowned. “I told you—at home talking to him over the phone.”
Mac said, “And then…”
“Then I transferred Cory some money, checked my stocks and watched some TV until my wife and son came home.”
“From hockey,” Grace said.
“Right.”
“When did you realize Cory had been stealing from the business?” Mac asked.
“Early on.”
“When?”
“It was just like a month after we opened.”
“Which was only three months ago, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And what did you do when you realized he was stealing?”
“I confronted him, like I said. He apologized. Explained it away and even had me buying into it a bit.”
“And then what happened?”
Brad shook his head slightly and frowned.
“Well, you decided to close the business,” Grace said. “Why?”
“He did it again. I told you this already.”
“So, when you caught him again,” Mac asked, “did you take legal action?”
“Well, no.”
“So, you didn’t send him a letter from your lawyer asking him to sign the business over to you or you’d sue?” Mac asked. “That’s funny, because we have proof you did. I’m just not sure why you weren’t open with us about that from the beginning, Brad?”
“I didn’t sue him or anything. I just wanted to scare him. It wasn’t real legal action. Just a warning.”
“Did your lawyer invoice you a real legal fee for him to send that letter?” Grace asked.
She caught Mac smirking out of the corner of her eye as Brad pressed his lips together, sitting back in his chair, putting more distance between them.
He knows we’re on to his lies. Is it a cover up? Or is he trying to avoid suspicion?
“Maybe I should call my lawyer now,” Brad said.
“Of course,” Mac said, “but if you have nothing to hide, it’s not a big deal to keep talking to us.”
“I don’t like what you’re inferring.”
“We’re not inferring anything,” Grace said. “You’ll find that when we state a fact, we have the evidence to back it up. We found the legal documents.”
He knows he can’t fool us about his intentions anymore. He won’t be here much longer.
“We also have emails from you to Cory,” Mac said, pointing to the folder in front of him, “confirming you sent them and that you didn’t want to talk to him. So why did you pick up the phone that night he died?”
Brad shook his head and stood from his seat.
We can’t let him leave.
“We found something else too,” Mac said.
The pictures. He’s going to tell him we found them, and then we’ll have no leverage.
Grace stood, interrupting him, and reached for the doorknob, clenching it.
He wants to appear innocent. I’ll let him think I see his innocence.
“If you had nothing to do with Cory Boyd’s murder, we would appreciate your full cooperation in helping us find out who did,” she said, opening the door.
Brad stared at her.
He’s scared to just walk out because he knows it doesn’t look good for him.
“You’re trying to make it seem like I’ve lied, but I haven’t.”
“Mr. Hensen,” Grace said. “We are trying to find Cory’s killer. You had empathy for him on more than one occasion. He may have proven to be a terrible business partner, but I’m betting at one point, he was a great friend. Back in college when you were dreaming of opening up your own store. Playing hockey together. That Cory. Could you help us get justice for him?”
Brad pressed his lips together and let his shoulders droop.
“By all accounts,” she went on, “we’ve heard Cory was a great friend. That he lost his way, but his intentions were good. That he treated his friends to things his winnings afforded him. Cory was the kind of guy who would take the shirt off his back for a stranger, wasn’t he?”
Brad swallowed hard. “He used to be…”
“His addiction controlled him. That man isn’t the Cory you know. What would the Cory you know do if it was you in his position?”
Brad shook his head straight away with tears in his eyes.
“He’d do whatever he could to help you. Will you do the same for him?”
He avoided eye contact with her and cleared his throat. “I didn’t do anything to Cory, and maybe if he was the Cory I knew, I’d feel differently, but judging by how he acted with his finances—our finances—I believe you’ve got a long list of suspects you should be looking into instead of me.”
He doesn’t care about Cory—but money is important to him.
“Like who?” Grace asked.
Brad shook his head. “It’s not my business anymore. Pfft, literally. He’s left me with nothing. Wonder who else he’s done that to? Hope you find out.”
He straightened his suit and walked past her, his footsteps plodding quickly down the hallway. She stepped out into the hallway, and Mac joined her, shutting the door behind him and watching Brad disappear around the corner.
“Why didn’t you let me get to the blackmail?” he asked. “It’s the nail in his coffin. His motive on steroids.”
“It may have been the trigger, but he asked for his lawyer, and if we want to have a shot at getting an arrest warrant for him, we need more evidence. If he feels like he’s been backed into a corner, we’ll get nothing more from him.”
Mac shook his head and stalked down the hall. She followed him to the coffee maker, and his phone rang as he poured himself a cup.
“Officer MacIntyre.” He set the coffee pot down. “Right, okay, hold on a minute.” He pressed a button on his phone.
“We need to go back to the room—now,” he said, leaving his coffee behind. “That customer experience manager, Julie, who introduced Blaze and Cory is on the phone, and she wants to talk to us, but not in person.”
“Okay,” Grace said, rushing down the hallway toward the room and closing the door behind them. She started a recording and nodded for Mac to put her on speakerphone.
“Hello, Julie?”
“Yes, hi.”
“I assure you, your statement will remain confidential,” Mac said. “What did you want to tell us?”
“I’m afraid,” she whispered.
“Are you somewhere you can talk?” Mac asked.
“Yes, in my car.” Her voice shook.
“Please, if you can help us—”
“I’m afraid of what Blaze will do to me if he finds out I’m telling you this—but Cory was a good guy. A great guy. He didn’t deserve…”
“Julie, what is it that you know?”
“Blaze can do anything he wants. Make anything he or his boss wants happen. If he wanted Cory dead… and I think he did… he’d do it himself.”
This could be it. This could be all we need to arrest Blaze and hold him for questioning.
Chapter Thirty
After arriving early for visiting hours, Madigan decided to wait in the hallway, rather than on her bike outside in the rain. She pushed the hood from her sweater off her head and pressed down the flyaway hairs that had surely taken on a mind of their own from the static of the hood.
“Alright,” a guard said. “Line up.”
Two other women walked with her to the door and stood, waiting for the guard to unlock the metal bars. He led them to the same room she’d met John in less than a week before, and she took the same table they had sat at.
If just visiting is terrible, he’s probably going through a lot worse in there. I should visit more often.
John walked out toward her, smiling, and took a seat across from her. “I didn’t expect you so soon,” he said. “Gotta say, it’s good to see you.”
“And I didn’t expect you to send me a bodyguard,” she whispered.
“Ah, yeah, well—tell me—how’s it going with Luke?”
“He’s persistent…”
“So are you,” John said with a bit of a laugh. “He’s been helping?”
She nodded.
“Good.” John leaned forward. “What’s been happening?”
“A lot… I thought Luke could help me because of his connection to Mickey’s men.”
“He was very connected.”
“He showed me some I hadn’t seen or thought of before, but it’s not going to work.”
“What?”
“I won’t find who I’m looking for this way.”
John clenched his fists into balls. “I wanted him to help you—”
“And he did. He did what he could, and he says if I want to keep looking in the future, he’ll help me.”
John pursed his lips and studied her. “If this is what you want…”
She shrugged. “It doesn’t look like I’m going to get what I want—not like this—but what I want most is to be able to move past it. To live a normal life without always looking over my shoulder. I’ve started self-defence classes.”
John raised his brows and smiled. “How’s that going for ya?”
“Pretty good, actually. Good enough that when Luke took me to this underground club on the outskirts of Amherst, I wasn’t completely terrified. I went in—”
“Luke took you to The Scorpion?” John asked, pushing himself away from the table.
“I didn’t know what it’s called, but I guess you’ve been there too…”
“When I was working with Mickey.” John nodded. “Luke got out, though. If you get out, you don’t go back…”
“I think he risked a lot for me. For you, really.”
John shook his head, staring at the table between them, his eyes searching it.
“What?”
“If any of Mickey’s men saw him…”
“We sat in a dark booth. I don’t think anyone noticed him, but he said he’d been back there a couple of times.”
John rubbed at the short beard he’d grown. “I should call him. Tell him to watch his back.”
A sense of guilt inflated within her. “I don’t think he’d have gone if he was scared. You got him out, right? So why would he be afraid of being around them now?”
“It’s Mickey’s turf. Him and all the other lowlifes of Amherst claim it as theirs. By going there, he’d have to know there was a chance he’d run into one of them. That they wouldn’t want him there because he doesn’t belong anymore…”
“I’m sorry I got him involved again…”
“No. It was me. I called him in for this. I knew what I was doing. I just didn’t think he’d go there. I won’t be able to call him until tomorrow.”
“I’ll call him,” she said on exhale.
I’m the reason he went. I need to warn him.
“Yeah, okay. Just tell him to stay sharp this week until any word he was there dies down. He should be fine after that.”
“I will. And thank you.”
“How’s his mom doing? Did he say?”
“The treatments didn’t work.”
John took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Damn.”
“He’s taking care of her, though.”
John nodded. “Of course. You know, I’d have helped you myself if I could be out there.”
“Hey, maybe it won’t be as long as you think.”
He shrugged. “On good behaviour, my lawyer said I could be out in five years. Even less if the system gets overcrowded.”
She nodded, pressing a smile to her lips. “Are you still glad you did it?”
“That I owned up to my part in it?” He nodded. “Besides being with Lily, it was the best thing I’ve ever done.”
She smiled as the guards called out that visiting hours were over.
“You stay sharp too, okay?” John said. “And don’t ever go back there. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit thankful you’re trying to put this behind you.”
“I have to deal with it in my own way,” Madigan muttered. “It’s always been that way.”
“Better than making someone else’s mistakes.” John raised his brow and let it drop while he bit his lip. “I’ve made enough of other people’s mistakes to know you can live with it if it was your choice, but if not…”
“I’ll come see you soon.” Madigan stood.
He nodded. “Don’t forget about Luke.”
“I won’t,” she said before turning away and striding out of the room.
I couldn’t.
As she stood out front under the awning, she dialed Luke’s number, but there was no answer. She tucked her phone in her pocket and jogged to her bike through the rain.
Grace will kill me for riding in this weather. She’ll want to kill me for a lot worse once she gets home and we talk.
She pulled out of the lot and headed for the road.
I’ll call Luke as soon as I get in.
A picture of Luke out on the street somewhere came to mind as she rode. She imagined him walking alone, and one of Mickey’s men jumping him.
Maybe I shouldn’t wait. Maybe I’ll pay him a visit.
Chapter Thirty One
“Why do you think Blaze would want to kill Cory Boyd?” Mac asked, setting the phone on the table and leaning over it as Grace sat down beside him.
“I—I know the last man I introduced Blaze and Tom to is missing.”
Tom Portman. The man with Blaze in the videos. The man Julie kissed on the cheek.
“He never came back here, and no one can find him. Amherst police closed down the investigation. They think he just left his wife and kids, but I know he wouldn’t have done that.”
“Who was this man?” Mac asked.
“His name’s Ian Long, and yes, I told them, but I didn’t have any proof. I’d already introduced Cory to Blaze before Ian disappeared, but I’m done with all of it. I’m quitting my job there. I’m moving away. Too much has happened…”
“What do you mean?”
“Ian’s wife came in here asking about him. I guess he talked about me a couple times, and she thought something was going on between us, but nothing ever happened. That’s—that’s why I became close to Ian and Cory in the first place. They weren’t the cheating type. They were kind and sensitive, even when they were down on their luck, and they accepted me for who I am… I’m transgender, still transitioning, and a lot of men who find out don’t want to have anything to do with me. I’ve been treated poorly by them before. I kind of got a sense for who the good ones were. That’s when Blaze took advantage of my position…”
“Your position?”
“I’m well-connected at the casino. I make the most out of any cocktail server, and I became somewhat of a lucky charm to some of the wealthier customers, which is why they put me in charge of customer experiences. Blaze was nice to me when we first met, but I didn’t like him. Tom introduced us. I knew he was powerful, and some of the things he said or suggested were…disturbing. Never hurt me, though. Always asked for me. One night, he told me he’s a financial investor and that if there was anyone down on their luck in the casino, I should introduce them. That he could help them. Tom told me I’d be helping people.”
“And so you did. For how long?”
“Just over a year now.”
“Did anything happen to the other men before Ian and Cory?”
“Not that I know of, but a few stopped coming here after I made the initial introduction.”
“So back to Cory. You knew he’d been losing.”
“Yes, but he was addicted. I told him he needed help, but he’d always insist he could make the money back. I introduced him to Blaze because he was desperate, and I thought maybe he’d help him.”
“When did you realize something was wrong?”
“After Ian went missing. I told Cory that Blaze meant business, and if he crossed him, something bad would happen. He said he already knew that. That he had it handled. I told Cory not to come back to the casino.”
