Stephanie Doyle - Suspect Lover

“I’ll be back.”

Mark stopped in front of the two women who seemed to be leaning against each other for support.

“Why don’t you both go home?”

Caroline stared at him. “I’m not leaving without Dominic.”

“Look, this is going to take a while. He’s got to stay here until I get a few things sorted out. There’s no point in you sitting up all night.”

“I’m not-”

“Leaving,” he finished. “Stubborn and violent. Hey, shortcake, wake up.” Mark bumped Nora’s leg with his foot. She immediately popped her head up.

“What? I wasn’t sleeping.”

“Take Mrs. Santos home. It is Mrs. Santos?”

“It is,” Caroline agreed.

Mark crouched down. “Listen, I understand you want to be loyal and stick by your man. But you’re not doing him any good by sitting here in a hard chair not getting any sleep. Go back to the house. Take a hot bath, do whatever it is women do. Then you come back tomorrow and you’ll be ready for whatever’s next.”

“What’s next?” she asked wearily.

“I don’t know. But I want the truth, Caroline, even if that’s not the easy answer.”

He hated the doubt he saw in her eyes.

“Trust me,” Mark urged her.

“I told you,” Nora interrupted. “He’s not the worst detective in the world. I think we can trust him.”

Mark stood up and smiled down at his pint-sized partner. “You know, shortcake, you keep talking like that I’m going to think you like me.”

“I’ll be extra careful, then. Come on, Caroline. Let’s get out of here.”

Nora got Caroline to her feet and guided her to the station’s doors.

Abruptly they both stopped. Mark wondered what was up until he saw the station’s newest arrival.

Steven Ford had just walked through the door.

“Caroline!” Steven called out rushing up to her. “Is it true? Is Dominic here? Is he okay?”

“Get away from me,” Caroline told him.

Mark saw her reach for Nora’s arm and hold on tight.

“Let’s get out of here. Now.” Caroline moved around him and Nora followed. Together they left arm in arm.

“Caroline.” Clearly the man was confused. “I don’t understand. Wait.”

Mark watched the interaction. “Let them go,” he said as he approached Ford.

“I don’t understand. What’s happening? I want to see Dominic.”

“First things first. I’ve got a few more questions I would like to ask you.” Mark steered him in the direction of a hallway that led to the interrogation room. He opened the door and allowed him to walk in of his own accord.

“What is this?” he asked. “Where’s Dominic?”

“Have a seat Mr. Ford. I have to tell you that if you would like, you may call your lawyer.”

“I don’t want a damn lawyer. I want to know what this is about.”

“This is about the death of Denny Haskell and Serena Almonde.”

“Serena?” Steven whispered. He reached for the chair and dropped into it. “No, that’s not possible.”

“The police found her in her car a few hours ago, I’m afraid. She was killed sometime early yesterday afternoon.”

“How?”

“Car ran her off the road into a tree.”

The man winced at the news.

“Where were you around noon yesterday, Mr. Ford?”

Steven gulped a few times and blinked his eyes, as if he couldn’t stop himself.

“I was at the office,” he finally said.

“Can you think of any reason why someone would want to kill Serena?”

“I still can’t think of a reason why someone would want to kill Denny!” he shouted back. “None of this makes sense.”

Just then, a discreet knock sounded at the door. Mark got up as a uniform officer slipped him a piece of paper, then quickly retreated.

Mark read the paper then looked at Steven and decided to play a hunch. “You can’t think of any reason why someone might want to kill Denny?”

“No.”

“Mr. Ford, did you know your wife was having an affair with him?”

Dominic sat in a corner of the large holding cell. He tried to tell himself that it wasn’t the same as a real cell, but it didn’t work. The bars were just as solid, the loss of freedom equally powerful. Whoever had created the cell knew what they were doing when it came to psychological torture. A man inside lost his dignity, his liberty and his ego. A man inside a cell was never the same as the man outside.

To take his mind off of his location, Dominic closed his eyes and tried to think. Serena was dead. Murdered. What had motivated her to get involved in all of this? He had to assume it was money. What had Caroline told him, something about some family she was trying to get into the States? At least he could pretend her motivation stemmed from desperation.

Steven’s motive was less clear.

Dominic mapped out the events in his mind. Steven must have learned about the program that Denny had created, saw its potential and decided that he wanted it all for himself. So he altered the books, had Serena make the switch, killed Denny and then just waited for everything else to play out.

Only the money was still in the company’s account. So if it was a setup, it was a poor one. If Dominic didn’t have the kind of past he did, he might not have run. Then it would have been his word against Steven’s as to how the books got altered. Not exactly a sure thing.

Was it possible Denny told him about their shared criminal past? Dominic couldn’t see Denny revealing himself like that to Steven. The two men weren’t close at all, barely spoke to one another.

It was odd, Dominic mused. Steven had plenty of money from his share of the company’s profits despite repaying his loan to Russell. Of the three of them, he was really the least ambitious. If it wasn’t for his father-in-law’s influence, he might have never thought of becoming a partner. So what the hell was he planning to do with the program once he got it?

“Denny?”

Mark watched the man’s reaction. He saw shock and disbelief. But that didn’t mean a whole lot to him. Most criminals could fake shock and disbelief pretty easily.

“It’s not possible.”

“Denny had your number in his cell phone.”

“That doesn’t mean anything.”

“Phone records indicate he called your house the night he was killed. My guess is he spoke to your wife. Is that what set you off? Did you hear her on the phone with him and crack?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! It’s not possible. Anne hated Denny. He disgusted her.”

“Disgust. That’s a pretty powerful word. If it’s true, then it’s odd that we found a magazine with her fingerprints in his office. Remember we printed everyone connected to this case to eliminate familiar prints. Strange place to find your wife’s, though. Can you think of any reason she would spend time in his office?”

Steven opened, then closed his mouth.

Mark pulled the empty chair close to him so he could look the man in the face. “Let me ask you something, Steven. As far as you know has your wife ever strayed before?”

For a split second, Steven’s eyes sharpened into angry slits. It was all the answer Mark needed. “I’m sorry. I truly am. Who was he?”

“Dominic Santos,” Steven muttered thickly.

“Can I just say you were completely off base.”

Dominic immediately jumped to his feet as he heard the detective make his way down the row of cells.

“This wasn’t about your fancy computer program at all,” Hernandez said, even as he reached down to unlock the door. “This was about the second-greatest motive for murder. Revenge. Plain and simple.”

“What are you saying?” Dominic struggled to catch up. “Steven wanted revenge? Against me?”

“You and Denny. But not for the reason you might think. Let me ask you something, Santos. You ever have an affair with Anne Ford?”