Chapter Thirty-Two

Annie’s nerves felt like live wires snapping to attention all along her skin.

Ryan frowned down at her as they walked into the station. “You look like you’re walking to the gallows.”

Annie narrowed her gaze. “Not exactly my favorite place. Last time wasn’t fun.”

“Well, this time, you’re not on your own. They better have a damn good reason for holding Tate.”

Annie put a hand on his arm when she saw the way his fingers clenched. “I don’t get it. Why did he call you?”

Ryan stopped just before they reached the counter where she could see Detective Rickers watching them.

He turned so they had a semblance of privacy. “We’ll get into it after we get out of here, but I have a feeling we need to start working together.”

Annie gave a humorless laugh. “Just so you know, figuring out the killer on paper is a lot easier than in real life.” She should have shown him the photo. If Tate phoned him for help, it was probably Ryan he showed. But why? He didn’t seem to trust adults so why a cop?

“Did you two want a room for privacy? We have some in the back,” Detective Rickers called out.

Under her breath, Annie asked Ryan, “Can I get arrested for telling him how much I dislike him?”

Ryan laughed. “No. But I’d advise against it.” He nudged her toward the gate Rickers had swung open for them to pass through.

Rickers smirked. “Aren’t you two cozy?”

Ryan nudged Annie with his arm before she could give the response she wanted. Instead, she smiled at the detective as if he was her favorite person in the world.

“Did you get your hair cut?”

He eyed her suspiciously. “No.”

“Hmm. Looks like you did. You look great. Almost…smarter.”

Ryan covered a laugh with a harsh cough. “Annie. I’d like to leave here with both you and Tate. Don’t make that more difficult.”

Detective Rickers glared at her. “Listen to your pal.”

She sealed her lips shut and followed Rickers to the same room she’d been in once before.

He hadn’t shut the door before Ryan asked, “Where’s Tate?”

“With my partner.” Rickers held Ryan’s hard glare, neither of them flinching.

“Does he have a lawyer?”

Rickers smiled, took a seat. Annie stood on the other side of the table watching Ryan.

“Seems his public defender is running a little late.” Rickers leaned back in his seat.

“Is this how you run things in Trenton? Skirt the rules? Pick on women and children who have nothing to do with the actual crime?”

“You seem awfully invested in our young friend.” Rickers looked at Annie. “Have a seat. Why don’t you tell me why Tate was so interested in talking to you.”

“I’m not telling you anything without a lawyer present.”

Ryan came over, grabbed the chair, and sat down. He leaned his forearms on the table. Annie’s heart rate hiccupped. This felt like one of those good guy-bad guy moments in the movies right before chairs went flying.

“What do you have on Tate?”

“Seems he sent our friend a message tonight,” Rickers said, staring at Annie.

Ryan looked her way. “Annie?”

She sank down into the chair, focusing only on Ryan. “Ben and I were going to talk to you after I talked to Tate. He had a picture on his phone that he showed me a week or so ago. Someone leaving Gill’s house. He got my attention by leaving a rock with a message on it. Today, I stubbed my toe on another rock with a new message, but I wasn’t positive it was from him.”

“You didn’t think to tell the police about clandestine meetings with a teenager, Ms. Abbott?”

Annie turned her face to smile at Detective Rickers. “I just did.”

He scowled. “You’re skating on thin ice.”

“She’s not though. And neither is Tate. The truth is you have nothing on anyone. You’re so worried about showboating, you two are missing clues and whoever killed Gill is working you like puppets. You’re no closer to the truth than you were when you walked in and took over.”

Go, Ryan.

Detective Rickers leaned in, his nostrils flaring. “Listen to me, Officer. You have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes. You aren’t privy to that sort of thing at your level. But here’s what I do know: Tate Murphy was seen in Gill’s house. Gill owed Bob Murphy five thousand dollars. All that oxygen gets expensive. Between the money owed, the kid’s prior offense, and the eyewitness report of seeing him on the morning of the murder, we have enough to hold him.”

“He’s seventeen.” Ryan’s jaw looked tight enough to shatter.

Annie’s brain was tripping over the new details.

“Guess you’re not as close as you thought. Our young friend is eighteen as of a few days ago.”

Ryan’s hands curled into fists on the table. “Did you press charges?”

“No. Not yet. We’re going to hold him for the forty-eight hours though.”

Annie’s heart twisted. “Can I talk to him?”

Both men looked at her. She steeled her shoulders. “Listen, I’m not going to tell you how much I dislike you because Ryan advised against it. But let’s suppose you actually want the truth here. Let’s pretend you really want to see the right killer brought to justice. Let me talk to Tate and see why he reached out to me through Ryan. Why he may or may not have left me another note.”

Detective Rickers watched her carefully like maybe if he stared long enough, she’d break.

“Fine. I’ll send him in. I assume you’re staying, Officer Porter?”

He left, closed the door behind him. Ryan growled out a curse word. “I think I’ll take my detective exam just to spite him.”

“Ryan, I’m scared for Tate. I saw Bob today, and Tate wasn’t home. He mentioned that he and Gill used to be friends. How much do we know about Tate?”

Ryan set his gaze on Annie, and she saw the fear in it. “He didn’t do this. Everyone judges him by his previous choices. He’s a good kid. I’m sure of it, Annie.”

Annie believed him. Or, at least, she believed he meant what he said. The problem was when feelings got involved, perceptions got skewed. Annie knew Tate had a knack for sneaking out. He could have found time to hurt Gill. Though she didn’t see him as a killer, she did see him as a young man who’d do anything for his pops. Especially if he felt he had no other choice.

Tate shuffled through the door in cuffs. Annie bit down on her cry of outrage and stood up to greet him.

She stared at Detective Black. “Is it really necessary to cuff him?”

“That’s what we do with suspects, Ms. Abbott.”

Annie stepped closer to the woman while Ryan took Tate by the arm. “I have a very close friend who excels at her job in publicity and media management. She’d know all the right channels to get out a story about two detectives who think they’re above the law. People should know how you treat people—children—in your custody. I’m sure the city of Trenton and beyond would love to see a behind-the-scenes picture.”

Black glared at her so hard Annie wondered if she was casting a curse over her. She stalked to Tate, unlocked the cuffs. She left without a word, and Annie turned to see Tate rubbing his wrists.

“Are you okay?”

The kid shrugged, but she saw the fear in his eyes. He looked away. “Fine.”

“What the hell is going on, Tate?” Ryan said.

“I didn’t do nothing, man. I was helping Pops with his new machine, getting it set up. The cops show up, say they got some eyewitness who seen me leaving Gill’s place. Pops starts swearing at them, saying that can’t take me, but I told him it was fine. I didn’t want him getting worked up.” He didn’t look at them as he spoke.

“Did you leave me another note?”

Tate stared at the glass behind Ryan’s head.

Ryan slapped his hand down on the table, startling them. “Answer her. I might not be able to pull strings and get you out of this.”

It sounded like if he did, it wouldn’t be the first time. Annie wondered how well Tate and Ryan knew each other.

Tate looked at Annie. “I got a note saying if I tried talking to you again, my pops would find out about me sneaking out.” His eyes looked damp, and he sniffled loudly. Proudly tilting his chin up as if he could roll the emotion back down his throat.

“Where’s the note?”

“I burned it. Listen, I know I made mistakes in the past, but I didn’t do anything, Ry. You know I didn’t. I’ve done everything you told me to. And I promised her I wouldn’t sneak out no more, and I haven’t. I keep my word.”

Annie’s heart twisted. Was she just a sucker? She totally believed him. She wanted to hug him and tell him everything would be okay. She wanted someone to do the same for her. This was a mess of epic proportions.

“I believe you,” Ryan said quietly.

Annie didn’t want to label the tone of his voice as defeated, but that’s how it felt. “Can they seriously hold him?”

Ryan nodded. “He’s eighteen. They have an eyewitness. Until they can discredit whoever it is or until forty-eight hours have passed. At the end of that, they have to charge him or let him go.”

Tate cleared his throat. She could see the emotion he fought to hold back. Going to his side, she knelt down. “Listen. We’re going to figure this out.”

He nodded but didn’t look at her, so she gripped his hand.

“Tate. Look at me.”

He did. He might be an adult, but he looked so young, her heart broke.

“Ryan and I are going to figure this out.” She took a deep breath. Let it out. “I promise.”