Part 21 (1/2)

aOh, wait. Maclinas file.a Roman and Gabe stopped at the front door. aWhat?a Gabe asked.

aI found something in Maclinas file.a They were in the living room now. Anna had drunk a couple beers, so she felt a lot better. Dante insisted she curl up with Rusty and rest. He sat next to hera”really close. She couldnat say she minded all that much.

Roman slid into the recliner. aWhat about Maclinas file?a aI finally read his autopsy report, front to back. Iad read it before, several times, but admittedly I skimmed because it was so unpleasant to relive the ordeal of that night. This time it finally sunk in. I think the connection wasnat there for me because it had been so long since I was in that alley.a aWhat?a Dante asked.

aTony Maclin died of blunt-force trauma to the head. From a brick.a Dante frowned, then looked at Gabe and Roman. aA brick? n.o.body hit him with a brick.a aI donat remember a brick,a Roman said.

Gabe sat on the edge of the recliner and shook his head. aNo, there wasnat a brick.a Anna nodded. aThatas what I thought I remembered, too. I know you guys punched him, but there was no brick. But do you understand what I said? Cause of death was blunt-force trauma to his heada”from the brick.a aWait.a Dante looked at the others, then switched back to Anna. aWe didnat kill him?a She smiled. aNo. You didnat kill him. I think you all hit him until he pa.s.sed out, then when you helped me inside, someone else picked up a brick and hit him over the head. Thatas what killed him.a aSon of a b.i.t.c.h.a Gabe sat there with an incredulous look on his face.

aHuh.a Dante stared at her. aAll these years, we thought wead beat him to death.a aWe didnat kill him.a Roman looked at Dante and Gabe, then turned his attention to Anna. aWhich means the suspect must have done the deed.a aThatas a powerful secret. One heas been holding on to for years,a Gabe said.

aBut is it a good enough secret to want us all dead?a Anna asked. aEspecially now, after all this time.a Dante nodded. aPeople have killed for way less than that. If he has something to lose, and he thinks we might know the truth about what happened that night, then yeah, Iad say head want to eliminate all of us.a Gabe stood. aWell, Iall leave the crime solving to all of you. All I know is thatas one less death Iam responsible for.a Dante stood and slapped him on the back. aMakes you feel all good about yourself now, doesnat it?a Gabe laughed. aYeah. I might even go to church this weekend.a Roman stood, too, slowly made his way over to Anna. aThis doesnat mean weare out of the woods yet.a He kissed her cheek. aBut itas good to know we didnat kill him. Iave carried a lot of guilt over that all these years.a aI know. You watch yourself.a aI have been.a Dante walked Roman and Gabe to the door, closed and locked it, then returned to her.

He scooped Anna up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom.

aIam capable of walking, you know.a He looked down at her. aAnd I could have lost you tonight. So let me indulge you.a He laid her in bed, helped her undress, then pulled the covers over her. He called Rusty, who lay down on the floor on her side of the bed. Then he undressed and climbed into bed next to her and turned out the lights.

aI could get used to having you here in my bed,a she said.

aI could get used to being here.a That was all either of them said before she drifted off to sleep.

Twenty-Two.

What Dante hadnat told Anna amidst all the chaos that had happened that night was that Gabe had come through with information about Crey Robinsonas drug-dealing past. Robinson had worked for the Bertucci family as a dealer back when he was in college. Though it wasnat information that Anna would be able to verify through any legal channels.

But at least they knew now. Which meant Robinson stayed at the top of the suspect list, alibi or not.

She was back at work a couple days after the attack, ignoring the fatherly looks given to her by Pohanski. The swelling on her face had gone down and she was lucky not to end up with a black eye. She felt fine. A little stiff, but mobile and so ready to end this case and this killer she could taste it.

And still unable to work the case, which made her seethe.

So she worked the other homicides, which had generated very few leads, but they were still murders that needed follow-up. Roman helped her with those and they had interviewed a few suspects and got those out of the way. Unfortunately, the cases were so cold she was getting frostbite in July, so no luck on the newly a.s.signed cases, which left her plenty of time to work on the one case they all wanted to close.

aSo Crey Robinson has an alibi,a she said to Dante as she leaned back in her chair. aMaybe he wasnat the only one in the alley that night. And maybe whoever was with him is doing the killings.a aItas a thought,a Dante said.

aA pretty good one,a Roman added.

Head been back on duty longer than her, was recovering from his injuries. His arm was out of the sling and the knife wound was healing. He still walked with a limp but Pohanski put him back on active duty. Anna was just so d.a.m.n happy Roman had escaped the killer she wanted to dance on top of her desk. They were winning. The killer had tried to take both Roman and her down and he hadnat succeeded.

It was only a matter of time and theyad have him.

They still hadnat found Sam Maclin, whoad seemingly gone missing after the night of her attack.

aSam Maclin is still our strongest suspect,a Dante said. aYouare attacked and suddenly he canat be found. We have a BOLO out for him. His photo and license plate number has been sent out to all city and county LEs. Weall find him.a aUnless he skipped town before I was attacked, in which case heas not our suspect.a aWeave alerted his mother and told her itas in his best interest to contact us and clear himself. If he gets in touch with her and he can come up with an alibi for the night of your attack, I canat imagine he wouldnat,a Roman said.

aIf heas innocent,a Dante added, crossing his arms.

aYeah. If heas innocent,a Roman said.

Now that shead discovered that the guys hadnat killed Tony Maclin, the cloud of guilt had lifted. Where once she might have felt sorry about targeting another Maclin, now she didnat. If Sam Maclin was the one doing all the killings, he had to be stopped. And she wouldnat feel guilty about taking another son away from Susan Maclin.

aMy bet is heas going to come home. His art is there, and thatas his pa.s.sion. I donat think he can stay away that long.a Dante nodded. aYou may be right, but itas a big risk for him. He has to know weare watching.a aMaybe. But he thinks heas smarter than we are,a she said.

aHe is a smug b.a.s.t.a.r.d,a Roman said. aHe might think he can outsmart us.a aOr outwait us.a Anna stood. aWhat if we pulled the surveillance crew outside his house? Everyoneas supposed to be out there looking for the killer, anyway.a Danteas lips curled. aGood idea.a aOnly we wonat be outside waiting for himaa Danteas eyes sparkled. aSometimes you have devious ideas. Could have used someone like you out in the field.a She laughed. aNo, thanks. This job is dangerous enough.a It had been difficult getting Susan Maclinas permission to allow them inside her home. She wasnat exactly happy to see them. In fact, her formerly gracious att.i.tude toward them had changed to one of cool disregard. Almost hatred.

But Dante a.s.sured her they were only looking out for Samas welfare and were trying to clear him off the suspect list, and the best way to do that was to bring him in. Hiding out from them only made him look bad.

She agreed with that, but she couldnat get him to answer his phone. She told Dante shead been trying several times a day and he wouldnat answer.

Theyad tried hitting up his cell phone for a location, but got nothing.

They pulled the unmarked car off the street after doing a sweep of the neighborhood, including all the houses. Sam was nowhere in the vicinity.

Anna had stayed behind in the precinct after Dante and Roman left so Pohanski wouldnat think she was going with him. Pohanski was wandering the bull pen, so she got on the phone with a lead on one of her cases, tapping her pen against the desk and counting down every minute. As soon as Pohanski made himself scarce, she ended the call, grabbed her notebook and keys and left.

She met Dante at a convenience store a few miles from the precinct. They parked a block over and went in the back door of the Maclinsa house.

Susan Maclin was already inside with Roman. He took her upstairs, out of sight, in case there was trouble. They wanted to make sure she was safe.

aIall cover the living room and kitchen area,a Dante said.

Anna nodded. aIall take the art studio.a aMic up so we can stay in contact in case anyone spots him,a Dante said.

She took the earpiece and slid it in. aEveryone hear me?a aGot you,a Roman said.

She headed off into the studio. aDante?a aI hear you.a The cool air in the studio came as a relief, even with all the windows streaming in sunlight. The day had started blistering hot and had only gotten worse.

She wandered around to look at the art. What did it take to have this kind of talent? The paintings, the sculpturesa”it was something that was beyond her. She loved art, loved going to the galleries to look at paintings and try to interpret the artistsa messages. To have that level of talent left her in awe.

And to have an entire family with that kind of talenta”she wondered how Tony would have ended up if he had lived. It was a shame head traded his talent for drugs and craziness. But they said some artists lived on the edge of madness. Was that what Tony had done? Had his talent driven him to the brink, and head dealt with it by turning to drugs?

And why had Maclin attacked her that night? Crime of opportunity, maybe. Shead been in the wrong place at the wrong time. And the attempted rapea”that had come out of nowhere. She blamed his high for that. Or maybe head had the predilection for it all along. She supposed theyad never know.

She moved over to the sculpture in process, the one Sam had been working on when she and Dante had come to talk to him before. Head made some progress on it. It was a bust, mostly finished now, of a young woman with flowing, wavy hair that cascaded over her shoulders. She wore a locket that dipped between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

The intricacy of the sculpture was amazing. How did he do something like that? The time it took to chip away at each piece, then mold it to make it look like an actual person must take hours of painstaking work.

She leaned in to examine the workmans.h.i.+p, and something caught her eye.

Her breath caught.

Above the breast, Sam had carved a heart.

Coincidence.

She backed away and moved to some of his finished pieces. They were all women, some full bodies.