“Grab your keys and let’s go.”
Ian looked up at Gary but did as he was instructed.
“What’s going on?”
“Security company just called. They’ve tracked Cam’s keycard via GPS. It’s at the Arrows’ house right now.”
“Shit,” he said. “Did you get a warrant?”
“In my hand. That’s what I was waiting for. The judge was more than willing to sign once I told him about the keycard.”
He wanted to call Cam and tell her but didn’t. After yesterday, he hadn’t done much more than text her before he went to bed to make sure she was fine and in for the night. Her response of my bodyguards won’t let anything happen was enough for him to know she needed more space. And so did he.
They pulled into the Arrows’ estate. The gates were open, which surprised him, thinking they’d be shut trying to keep out the news outlets. Though things had quieted down, they hadn’t stopped completely.
The Arrows had vowed to fight this in court, to get their son transferred out of prison and into a mental health facility.
Ian followed Gary up the stairs to the front door and waited for someone to answer after the doorbell had been rung. A maid came to the door. “Can I help you?”
Gary had his badge out. “Albany Police Department. We’ve got a warrant to search the premises.”
They pushed by the shocked maid’s face. “You can’t do that,” she argued.
“I can and I did. Get your employers down here if you wish, or on the phone, but no one is to stop us.”
“What is going on?” Priscilla asked from the top of the stairs. She looked a mess. Her hair was pulled back, she was in what probably passed as a sweatsuit in most people’s eyes, but was more like fancy pajamas. There wasn’t a lick of makeup on her face and her eyes were red and swollen.
“We traced Dr. Mason’s missing keycard back to your property. We’ve got a search warrant to find it.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” she asked, crossing her arms as she came down the stairs. She was putting on a good front, but there were nerves behind her eyes.
“I’m sure you were fully aware that her office building had been set on fire. Dr. Mason was trapped inside at the time. Someone had taken her keycard, locking her in.”
“There was no word of that on the news. How would I even know?” She stopped talking and turned to the maid. “Get my lawyer on the phone now.” The maid ran out of the room to do as she was told.
“Your family has motive.”
“For what?” Priscilla asked.
“To silence the doctor from giving her testimony,” Gary said.
Priscilla snorted. “It seems to me her testimony wasn’t needed. David did a good enough job of destroying his own case.”
“Show us where the card is,” Ian said, getting impatient and opening and closing drawers, moving pictures out of the way.
“I’m not saying another word until my lawyer gets here.”
Ian and Gary made their way through the house opening drawers and cabinets, picking up and turning everything over, leaving nothing overlooked. They went into Simon’s office where the drawers were locked. “Where are the keys?”
Priscilla stood there with her arms crossed not saying a word. It didn’t stop Ian from doing the same in the office that he’d been doing all over the downstairs, going over the shelves and picking everything up he could.
“Now just a damn minute,” Simon Arrow said, rushing through the door thirty minutes later with his attorney. “You’ve got no right to be here. Haven’t you done enough?”
“This warrant says we’ve got the right,” Gary said, handing it over to the lawyer then explaining what they were looking for.
“Why the hell would I have any keycard and how would I even get my hands on it?” Simon asked. “You’re accusing me of arson? I wasn’t even in town that day.”
“You can give us your alibi downtown. Make it easier on us and tell us where the card is. GPS is showing it in this house.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Simon argued.
Ian looked over and saw Priscilla crying, then pulling the attorney over to talk.
“Gentlemen,” the attorney said. “If you please.”
Ian and Gary watched while Priscilla hit a button hidden under a shelf, sliding it out of the way, then pulled out a box. She flipped the lid and removed the card. “I picked it up when Dr. Mason dropped her purse the other day. I don’t know why. I just did it. I haven’t used it for anything. I swear.”
“You can make your statement downtown,” Ian said, pulling his cuffs out.
“Is that really necessary?” Simon asked, storming forward, only to have his attorney put his hand out.
“We’ll go with you voluntarily, but the cuffs can stay off,” the attorney stated.
Ian looked at Gary and Simon during the face off. He wanted the satisfaction of cuffing her but wasn’t surprised when Gary said, “Fine, but she rides with us.”
Priscilla started to cry. “I didn’t do anything. I just took her keycard. Where is that a crime?”
“Don’t say a word in the car,” their attorney advised.
On the drive back to the station, Ian couldn’t help but think this didn’t feel right.
***
“I don’t understand,” Cam said a few hours later when Ian came to see her. “Why did you let her go?”
“She has motive and she had the card, but we can’t put her at the scene.”
“What was her reason for taking it to begin with?”
Cam couldn’t believe it. She remembered clearly when it happened now. That stupid purse that always had stuff falling out of it. Her keycard must have been one of those things and because it was white and the tile floors were white, it didn’t stand out. She never even saw Priscilla snatch it up.
“She said it was an impulse. She had no idea what she was going to do with it. What she could do with it. She was thinking of telling Simon she had it and hoped maybe he’d have an idea.”
“What was Simon’s response to all of this?” she asked.
“He denied having any knowledge. She concurred. They could both be lying, but there isn’t enough evidence to prove it.”
“Why give the card over if they were guilty?”
“They knew we knew it was in the house. They probably figured if they handed it over it would show they were cooperating.”
“Which they have been,” Cam said. She wouldn’t be surprised if Priscilla did it. That she might have hired someone to set the building on fire or to do all the other things.
Priscilla had been the one taking David to all the specialists over the years. Priscilla had been the one fighting the hardest to prove her son was innocent.
But would she really be able to hire someone to do all those things, because there was no way she did them herself. Though she didn’t have an alibi for the day of the fire, she did have one the day Cam’s tires were slashed and the day the rock was thrown through the window.
“Right now it’s the best lead we’ve got,” Ian said.
He wasn’t being as friendly with her. Not as warm either. Just professional. Just doing his job.
She was his job now.
She’d hurt him yesterday, she knew, but she was only trying to protect herself. She was telling herself that falling for someone in the middle of a crisis like this was just stupid. She was trying not to be stupid in her life anymore.
She hadn’t told her parents for the reasons she’d said, but also because she was trying to keep everything under control. She’d had no intention of falling for Ian, but somehow what she hadn’t intended happened nevertheless.
What she felt for him was about more than him saving her. She knew that. She was smart enough to realize it. But she wasn’t about to open herself up to anything without knowing how he felt.
All she knew was he was attracted to her and he wanted her. She’d been there and done that in her past and it wasn’t all she wanted out of a man in her life now.
He felt honor bound to protect her.
She wanted more, but she wasn’t going to ask. She wasn’t going to talk about it. Not now. Not until this was over with. And when it was over, she’d stress about him leaving her life for good.
Until then, she was letting as few people as possible know about her “relationship” with Ian.
It’d be easy for him to tell everyone at the station he’d been undercover. They’d probably all laugh and say they should have known. That the two of them could never be a couple in the real world. Guys like him didn’t go for prim and proper women like her.
Rough and tough guys found her to be a challenge or someone they could say they conquered. She wasn’t stupid enough to lead with her heart without the facts now. Yet in the back of her mind she was remembering he wasn’t so rough, but rather tender.
She was so confused when she often wasn’t.
All she really knew was when it ended, she just wanted to move on and not explain or justify, because she wouldn’t be able to do it without a lot of control. It would just hurt too much.
“So now what?” she asked. She could be professional too.
“We continue on like we were.”
“Are you going to be at my house tonight?” she asked.
“Probably not. I’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said, looking away. “We’ll keep the detail on your house though.”
“That’s fine,” she said. “Now I need to get back to work. I’m sure you do too.”
She walked out with him, then gave him a quick kiss on the lips because Tiffany was there and Tiffany was watching and they still needed to pretend.
Only she stopped pretending a long time ago. Now the kiss felt more like goodbye than I’ll see you later.