Chapter Thirty
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Jason was sitting in his truck in front of Jenna’s house when Logan and Zach pulled up. There was also an unmarked police car in the driveway with a deputy in the driver’s seat, trying to not look bored. Zach doubted the guards were allowed to read or play with their phone while they were on duty.
Rolling down the window when he saw them, Jason gave a mock salute. “I didn’t expect to see you here. Is everything okay? How did the crime scene look?”
Zach rubbed at his chin and grimaced. “About that…it posed more questions than it answered. Her statement doesn’t make any sense and isn’t logical. We need to ask her more questions.”
It was Jason’s turn to wince. “Are you saying Jenna Marshall lied to the police? Shit, that’s all we need today.”
Chuckling, Logan leaned a hip against the side of the vehicle. “If she’s telling the truth, she doesn’t have a lick of sense. She ran in the opposite direction of help and people. Also, her statement that she didn’t see her attacker doesn’t hold water. I guess it’s a possibility she didn’t see who it was but hell, it’s broad daylight and the garage was well lit.”
“Maybe she has terrible eyesight,” Jason suggested. “Maybe she’s a nitwit. Crime happens to dumb people too.”
“I need to see her answer my questions,” Zach replied. “Watch her expressions and eyes. I think I’ll be able to tell if she’s lying. Even if I can’t, one of us should be able to recognize a tell.”
Blowing out a breath, Jason pushed open the truck door. “Why would she lie? For the attention?”
“It’s as good a reason as any,” Zach shrugged. “Maybe she liked the attention after Drew died and didn’t want it to go away. Or maybe she’s telling the truth and I’m off my game. Anything is possible.”
“If she did it for the attention, you kind of have to feel sorry for her,” Logan suggested as they approached the front door. “I mean, that’s just sad, you know? She might be really lonely.”
Zach extended his arm to ring the doorbell but paused, turning to Jason. “Is the deputy out here okay by himself?”
“He was by himself when we showed up, although they’ve got a cruiser coming by every fifteen minutes or so. Tonight they’ll put a guard in the back as well, although if her story is bogus that won’t be needed.”
Zach wasn’t sure what to believe at the moment. If Jenna had lied about being attacked it was clearly a cry for help and attention. After what she’d witnessed with her husband’s death, she might want to talk to a professional. Someone who specialized in victims of crime. He hated to see anyone in so much pain they felt compelled to lie to the police.
The door swung open and Dizzy stood beckoning them to come in. “Come in. Jenna and Leann are in the kitchen making a grocery list. We finally convinced Jenna to let us go shopping and make some meals for her that she only has to heat up.”
“How is she?” Zach asked. “The report said she only had some bumps and bruises.”
He was particularly interested in what injuries she might have. If she’d falsified her statement to the cops, there still might be a good explanation for her wounds. Perhaps she’d used the story of an attacker to cover for someone else hurting her.
“She sort of alternates between anger and sadness,” Dizzy replied, keeping her voice low. “She seems pretty calm right now.”
Hopefully Jenna would stay that way once they started questioning her about this morning. Zach nudged Logan, holding him back before they entered the house.
“I’m going to watch her facial expressions and body language while you and Jason ask her questions.”
Logan nodded. “Sounds good, especially as she already knows Jason and there should be some trust built already. I hope this turns out to be nothing.”
So did Zach, but he had a bad feeling it was something. At the party Saturday night, Jenna had appeared to be a woman who liked attention but there had been no shortage of it. She wasn’t someone who had to fake attacks to get people to see her. If anything, it was the opposite. She’d had friends and relatives in and out of the house all day, every day since Sunday.
Then there was the obvious logical path to follow.
If Jenna wasn’t looking for attention, but she had indeed faked the attack…why? What did she gain from it? Was it to push the detectives to work faster, harder? Or was it to throw off the investigation? He feared it might be the latter. What was Jenna Marshall trying to hide?
Leann and Jenna were opening and closing cabinets in the kitchen, stopping every now and then to scribble items down on their list. Instead of the warm smile he’d come to expect from Leann whenever he saw her, she shifted her gaze to the piece of paper in front of her, not looking him in the eye.
Dammit.
This was all his fault and he needed to fix it. Now, however, wasn’t exactly the moment. He’d talk to her later after they’d questioned Jenna. If he threw himself on Leann’s mercy, surely she would forgive him? He’d acted like a prick this morning and he was sorry. She hadn’t deserved how he’d treated her. Moving home and telling her family was a big deal and she needed to do it in her own time.
Dizzy had gathered up some of the cookies and a travel cup of coffee. “I’m going to take this snack out to the deputy. I’ll be right back.”
“Thank you,” Jenna called out to the other woman’s retreating figure. “Good afternoon, gentlemen. I didn’t expect you.”
“Sorry to drop in unannounced,” Jason apologized. “But we really need to speak with you about what happened this morning. Would you mind answering a few more questions? I know you gave your statement to the police but we’re just here to clarify a few points.”
Zach placed his hand on Logan’s shoulder. “I’m not sure if you’ve met Jason’s partner Logan Wright. Logan, this is Jenna Marshall.”
“Ma’am, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Logan had a way with the ladies without even trying. Maybe it was the man’s smile or his tone of voice but women seemed to love it and him.
“Can we get you something to drink?” Leann asked, studiously avoiding Zach’s gaze as she opened the refrigerator to inspect its contents. Instead of looking at him she was checking the date on the milk.
“We’re good,” her brother replied, turning his attention back to Jenna. “So can you tell us again how the attacker came at you? I think you said it was from behind.”
Jenna’s cheeks burned red. “I’m not sure I want to talk about this again. It’s very upsetting.”
“I know it is, ma’am,” Logan said. “But it would help us with our investigation. Just a few questions?”
Chewing on her lip, Jenna nodded. “Fine, just a couple. Yes, she came at me from behind. Grabbed me around the neck and wrestled me to the ground.” Her fingers came up to touch the bruise on her cheek. “My head hit the concrete and that’s where I got this.”
“What made you decide it was a woman?” Jason asked.
“Her hands were definitely female.” Jenna huffed out a breath. “I don’t know why we’re talking about this. I told the officer that the woman who attacked me was Nicole Quincy. You should be at her house asking her questions, not me.”
This was the first Zach was hearing about Nicole Quincy. “Why do you think it was Nicole? Did you get a look at her?”
Jenna shook her head. “No, but I know it was her. She’s been jealous of me for years. I think she killed Drew because she couldn’t have him.”
“What about the other victims?” Logan queried. “Why did she kill them?”
“Decoys,” Jenna replied. “She killed them to throw off the investigation.”
That was a very interesting theory and it could be true, but Zach doubted that Nicole Quincy had thought it up. Jenna’s body language was closed, with her arms crossed over her chest and her hand lifted to cover her throat in a protective gesture. She wasn’t making eye contact either.
Zach’s gut was screaming that Jenna was hiding something and there was a hell of a lot more to this story than getting jumped in a parking garage.
Logan cleared his throat to continue. “Jenna, I want to be sure that we have the details of the attack correct. You said that you ran toward the next level in the parking garage to get away from your attacker. Is that correct?”
“It is.”
“Why didn’t you run toward the street? Toward the people?”
Jenna threw up her hands. “I couldn’t. She was in my way.”
“So you tried to run that way but she blocked your path?”
“Exactly,” Jenna smiled. “That’s exactly what happened.”
Logan had her right where he wanted her. “Then how did you not see her face? You turned to run toward the street but she was blocking your path. She would have been right in front of you.”
“No,” Jenna sputtered, clearly shaken by Logan’s observation. “That’s not how it happened. You’re twisting my words.”
“Then how did you know she was in your path?” Jason asked softly.
“That’s where she was standing.” Jenna’s voice rose and her body was visibly shaking. She didn’t like being put on the spot. Not one bit. “Between me and the road. I couldn’t go that way.”
“You said you were facing east,” Logan reminded her. “That meant the road was on your left and she was behind you, so she couldn’t have been blocking you.”
Caught in a lie, Jenna wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Zach watched as her chin lifted with determination.
“No, you’re not listening.” Jenna shook her head again. “I didn’t see her but she was blocking the path. I had to run up and I went to the elevators.”
“Did you push the button for the elevators?” Zach asked and then cursed his loose tongue. It was his own idea to let the others do the questioning but his senses were on high alert. Jenna was slapping lie upon lie and he wanted to know why. She was clearly hiding something and he had a terrible, awful feeling what it was.
The other victims might have been decoys but it wasn’t because Nicole Quincy had wanted Drew dead. It was because Jenna wanted her husband dead. It was one of the oldest stories in the book – one spouse murdering another.
“They don’t come any other way,” Jenna replied acidly. “That’s how elevators work.”
All they needed to do was keep putting on the pressure. Jenna hadn’t expected to be pressed on her story and she wasn’t prepared. She’d assumed she’d be treated as the grieving widow and a victim.
“How long did it take for the elevator doors to open?”
“I don’t know. A few seconds maybe? Is it important? I got away and I’m still alive.”
Patience. Just be patient.
“You’re sure the elevator doors opened? Did you get in the elevator?”
She’d taken a step back, an instinctive move to get away from Zach but he wasn’t going anywhere. “I took it to the third floor, got out, and headed into the mall where I flagged down a security guard. But you already know all of that.”
“Actually, this part wasn’t in your statement. You told the officer that you ran into the mall to get help from a security guard. There was no mention of you taking the elevator to do it.”
She shrugged carelessly. “I just remembered.”
Now. The time is right…now.
“Do you remember the Out of Order sign on the elevators? Because when I went to check out the crime scene today the elevators weren’t working.”
Her mouth fell open and her eyes widened comically. She seemed to be having trouble replying. “I–I mean–It wasn’t broken this morning.”
Jenna’s face had gone ashen and she leaned back against the kitchen counter. Leann’s attention had been on her grocery list but it was now firmly on her friend from high school, her expression horrified as she realized Jenna was lying through her teeth. A smart woman, Leann had to be putting this together in her own mind and coming up with a pretty suspicious theory of what was going on.
“So it broke sometime after your attack and when Logan and I arrived?” Zach said. “I guess I can check with maintenance. They’re the ones that put that sign there.”
Jenna nodded vigorously. “You do that. They’ll tell you.”
Why not go for broke?
“I also received a call from our computer expert. He pulled the traffic camera from the light in front of the parking garage and there was no one running from the scene at the time of your attack. Are you sure she ran toward the sidewalk?”
Jenna’s hand had flown up to her throat again. “I’m sure. Completely sure. Maybe she ducked out of the way. Criminals know how to do that, right?”
“Some do,” he conceded. “Some don’t. As a rule most criminals are quite stupid. They all eventually get caught because they do something dumb. They get careless and cocky.”
Jenna was trembling and her face had gone a horrible ghostly white. “I don’t want to answer any more questions. You all need to leave.”
Zach took a few steps closer to her, but slowly, as he didn’t want to spook her. He needed to get between her and Leann, especially with a butcher block full of knives sitting on the counter. Jenna might give in peacefully or she might fight. If it was the latter, Zach didn’t want to give her any ammunition. “I think we both know that I can’t do that, Jenna.”
Lips trembling, a few tears streaked down her pale cheeks. Realization had dawned in her eyes that he knew what she’d been trying to hide. There was no more reason to lie.
“You don’t understand.”
Now they were getting somewhere.
With one eye on Jenna, Zach ever so slowly sidled closer to her, insinuating himself between her and Leann. Everyone else was far enough away that he didn’t have to worry about them.
“Help me understand, Jenna. Tell me why.”
* * *
Zach’s hand was firmly in the small of Leann’s back, pushing her away from Jenna and toward Jason and Dizzy. Her brother reached for her as she moved closer, tugging her to his side with Dizzy on his other arm.
“Are you okay?” Jason whispered.
Leann nodded, still shocked by what appeared to be unwinding in front of them. Jenna was acting strange, stranger even than earlier, and from the expression on Zach’s face there was much more going on than simply asking her about the attack this morning.
“You weren’t accosted this morning,” Zach stated. In no way did he make it sound like a question.
“No,” Jenna said softly, her gaze seeming to go somewhere far away. She wasn’t looking at Zach or any of them; instead her eyes were focused off into the distance.
“Why did you pretend?”
“To blame Nicole.”
Jenna’s hands were wrung together, the knuckles white. More tears were falling and it was then that Leann put the puzzle together.
Jenna had done all of this. She’d killed those people. But why? Why on earth would she do something so horrifying?
It was only when Jenna and Zach’s heads turned toward her that Leann realized she’s spoken her question aloud.
Jenna’s face turned red and angry. “Drew cheated on me. He got Carole pregnant. But then you knew that, didn’t you? You all knew. All my supposed loyal friends but you kept this from me. A real friend would have told me. I deserved to know.”
Leann wasn’t sure what her friend was talking about. Drew had gone out with Carole once in their junior year but had he done it again recently? And what was this about a baby?
“Carole was pregnant?” Leann asked, frowning, searching her memories of high school. “When did this happen? I truly don’t know what you’re talking about, Jenna.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, Jenna took a step forward but Zach didn’t let her get any closer. “You know all of this. You all knew. Drew got Carole pregnant and her parents sent her away to have the baby. That’s why she was late starting senior year.”
Shock rippled through Leann as she processed Jenna’s words. She remembered that Carole had been late coming to school that year and she hadn’t been able to run for senior class president, but she’d had no idea that Carole had been pregnant. And with Drew’s baby.
“That’s why you killed Drew,” Zach said. “You were angry that he’d never told you.”
Silvery tears streamed down Jenna’s cheeks and she slid down to the floor, her back against the cabinets. Zach knelt down next to her, patting her on the hand.
“He should have told me. Everyone should have told me.”
“Is that why you killed the others?” Zach asked, glancing over his shoulder at Leann. “You wanted your revenge on them because they kept it a secret?”
Jenna scrubbed at her wet face and nodded. “When I found out I hated Drew and everyone else. They deserved to die for what they did to me. Leann was next but I couldn’t get to her.”
Leann hadn’t known, though. Had the others or was this just a fantasy inside of Jenna’s head?
Zach stood and then helped Jenna to her feet. “I have to take you in, Jenna. You know that, right? Is there anyone you want me to call for you? Your family? A lawyer?”
The bouncy, cute blonde that Jenna had been was gone and in her place was a shattered woman who looked far older than her actual age. Grey skin, red-rimmed eyes, a broken expression. Jenna was swaying on her feet and crying, rocking back and forth as if to self-soothe.
“There’s no one. Everyone I thought cared about me is gone.”
Jason was on the phone to the chief of police and Zach had led Jenna to the kitchen table so she could sit down. There were so many questions still unanswered. How had a beautiful wife and mother of two snapped and killed four people? Drew was dead and Jenna was going away for a long time, maybe forever. Those children had lost both their parents.
All because of something that had happened fifteen years ago when they were just dumb teenagers.