CHAPTER 29
Dylan
I stared at the phone, willing it to come back to life. I tapped a few buttons — I was still on a flip phone — hoping that the machine would tell me that I’d just lost signal. I knew better, but I tried anyways.
Sitting back in my chair, I let the phone drop onto the desk. I gazed at the walls, waiting for something else to happen, for something to occupy the oxygen that felt too thick for me alone.
Nothing came.
I’d ruined the only prospective partnership in my future — but that was too cold a way to think of it. Because Zoe wasn’t just a partner, she was a new lease on life. God, why did this always happen to me? The minute things looked like they were going well, the world threw me another fucking curveball.
And Danny… then there was Danny. I’d deprived him of a possible mother, or at least, a mother figure. I could take any blow I dealt to myself, but I was terrified to think that my poor decisions were taking a toll on my kid. He was little, now, but what about when he got older? Would he know enough to blame me for cheating him out of a second parent?
“You fucking fool,” I muttered to myself. Then louder, “You damned, irresponsible, awful motherfucker!”
With that, I rose from my chair, knocking it over, and tripped over the leg. The pain shot up my body and I groaned. I tried unsuccessfully to swallow the pain. This one was gonna be a bitch. I stumbled over to the office freezer and managed to put a couple of ice cubes in a paper towel, which I held to my leg. Ouch. I was looking at a least of week of tenderness. Just great.
If nothing else, though, the pain gave me a moment of insightful clarity. I had to get Zoe back, that much I’d already known. She was a great woman, and a good one. And a part of me did believe that, theoretically, it was possible she’d committed the crime.
But a bigger part of me — the part that was run by my heart — didn’t fucking care. If she’d done it… well, so be it. We let guys at the Black Dog skate by on criminal activities because they were a convenience for us. Meanwhile, if Zoe had in fact staged a break-in to cover her debts, which mind you I’m sure were unreasonably high due to rising loan rates, she hadn’t done it to be a menace to society, she would have done it to chase her dreams.
I couldn’t begrudge someone chasing their dreams. That wasn’t what enforcing the law was about.
More importantly, it wasn’t too late for me to prove that she was innocent. So that’s exactly what I set out to do.
Clutching the ice, I limped back to my desk, picked the chair back up, sat down, and began to do a computer search through all relevant files. I sought out any men or women with previous histories of break-ins, especially ones that required big hauls. I kept the search within Fallow Springs as we were fifty miles from the nearest town, and somebody would’ve needed to case the joint before the robbery, as Tom and I had already established.
One search after another came up dry. Growing discouraged, I pushed away from my desk, and headed for the row of file cabinets. Maybe trusting the computer had been my mistake. I needed to sift through these cases, one by one. It would take all night. I texted my mom, asking her nicely to put Danny to bed — I’d be at work late.
She agreed, and I continued my search, focusing especially on the names I could recall from recent robberies. Still nada. I went all the way back to archives from the nineties. More nada. I rubbed my forehead in frustration. What next? I certainly wasn’t ready to give up, but I didn’t have any insight on where to move from here.
I went back to my desk with a couple of folders that I knew would lead nowhere and put in a few phone calls that I knew would amount to little. But I took every step possible, methodically, because Zoe’s future was in jeopardy.
The calls were just more dead ends, that sounded something like, “Please leave a message after the tone.”
“The number you’re trying to reach is no longer in service.”
And my favorite, “Dull buzzing noise.”
I was powerless, like a bird with its wings clipped. All I wanted was to be Zoe’s protector, but I couldn’t even help her with my professional skills. Some fucking cop, right?
I resisted the urge to slam the receiver down. Instead, I leaned over, and put my head on the desk. I just needed a second to think, to—
“What are you doing here, kid?”
I swiveled around, almost reaching for my gun. I stopped in time, though, it was just Tom.
“Me?” I replied, gathering my bearings. “What about you?”
“Your mom called, said you texted that you were staying late tonight. And I knew I hadn’t given you any instructions to hang back, so something must be up.”
“She’s getting nosy,” I muttered.
“No, she’s getting worried.” He paused and looked at the voluminous piles of folders on my desk. “What the hell is this?”
“Folders,” I said sulkily.
He groaned, obviously not in the mood for a runaround. “Yes, Dylan, I see that they are literally folders. I’m asking you why the damn folders are on your desk, and not in the file cabinet? Or do you need me to clarify the question, since you seem to be having such a hard time keeping up?”
I scratched my cheek, and mumbled something along the lines of, “Uh, you know. Just doin’ a little work.”
His patience was beginning to wear thin. “At nine at night? When you have a kid waiting at home for you?” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’m not gonna be mad, just tell me what this is about.”
It was time to come clean.
“Well,” I said, “I’m looking into Zoe’s case.”
His eyes narrowed. “What for?”
“Just, uh, following some leads.”
“What leads? I don’t know about any leads.”
I wanted to stand, but I knew that if I stood just then, it would look like a power move. So, I sat in the chair and jiggled my leg.
“There weren’t any hard leads,” I continued, “so to speak. But I’m just looking for something—”
“That’ll get Zoe off the hook?” he interjected.
I stayed silent. What was there to say? He’d nailed it.
“God, you can’t be serious,” Tom said. “I know you like her, but that doesn’t mean she’s innocent.”
“But what if she is?” I shot back. “And what if we aren’t doing our due diligence on this case, just because we both know it’d be an easy conviction?”
He appeared unsteady for a brief moment, and replied, “We’ve done plenty of work. All roads lead back to Zoe.”
“I think you’re blinded by the superficial details.”
“And I think you’re blinded by your feelings.”
“Stop talking to me like I’m a child!” I yelled. “Yes, I like Zoe, okay? It’s true. Maybe even… maybe down the line, I could love her. But if that’s ever gonna happen, I need to clear her good name. And she’s good, Tom, she’s so good. She just — you don’t know her, but if you did — you’d understand this isn’t something she would do.”
He stared blankly at me, as though his mind had evacuated his body.
I went on, “So, yeah, I’m investigating this further because I know we’re missing something, and if I was the man who didn’t at least try to stand up for the woman he cares about… then I’d be no man at all.”
Even if she hates me right now, I added internally.
Tom tugged the cowboy hat down over his forehead, obscuring his eyes. Quietly, he replied, “All right, Dylan. I’m tired of fighting. Do what you want.”
“No, Tom, wait—”
But he didn’t stick around to hear me out. His boots pounded on the floor as he stomped out of the cubicles, and to the front door. He left the way he came, though this time with a greater slump in his shoulders. As if something were weighing him down and bowing his back.
I was wrenched with guilt. Was there anybody else even left for me to alienate? First Zoe, now Tom. I suspected my mom was none too pleased with me, either. Was Danny the only person still on my side? Or was everybody else’s resentment of me slowly started to mold his impressionable brain? I shuddered at the thought.
The only thing I knew with an absolute certainty, was that I had to finish what I started. That was how I could begin to make things right with every important person in my life.
And that meant seeing this case through.
It was obvious what I had to do next, but that certainly didn’t make it easier. Being a man ain’t easy, my brain whispered. Finally, some sound wisdom.
So, I took a deep breath, and sent a text message:
I need to interview your employees tomorrow morning at nine. Just following up on case business.
The response from Zoe came back instantaneously.
Fine