Allison Brennan - Killing Fear

What if he was telling the truth? The trouble with sociopaths is that you never knew when they were telling the truth and when they were lying.

The Feds were going through Theodore Glenn’s possessions and communications from the prison. If he had someone on the outside, the Feds would know about it soon enough.

I hope.

Will had no problem trusting the Feds in this matter. They were just as concerned about the escaped convicts as every jurisdiction in California and the rest of the country. Twelve killers-nine now, after the latest report-on the loose. To haunt their old hangouts, or to disappear?

The fact remained that most convicts were recaptured within thirty days. Glenn was now a cop killer and that put the chances of his arrest that much higher-only a small handful of cop killers were never caught.

Trinity was late. Will would be irritated if he wasn’t so worried about her. He pulled out his cell phone to call the cops watching her place-to make sure she was safe-when she walked in. She looked as tired as he felt, and made a beeline to the bar, sliding onto the stool next to him while kissing his cheek at the same time.

“Thanks for meeting me.”

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“A choice? You always have a choice.”

“You told me over the phone that you lied to me this morning. I could have you arrested.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Don’t test me. I’m not in a good mood. You didn’t tell me everything this morning.”

“I couldn’t. Not then.”

The bartender came over and Trinity ordered a Diet Coke. After she was served, Will said, “What’s going on? I want the truth.”

“You brought Theodore Glenn into custody two days after Brandi Bell was killed. According to the arrest report, he’d been identified by an elderly woman who lived across the street from Brandi, and by Robin McKenna.”

“Are we going to rehash the case? All that is in the transcripts.”

“Bear with me, okay? This is important, Will.”

Her sharp brown eyes were serious.

“Go on.”

“So this Mrs. Tchtivski gives a relatively vague description of a suspect, and Robin McKenna pegs him as Theodore Glenn, a regular customer.”

“It wasn’t that vague.”

Trinity read from the report. “‘Over six feet tall with brown hair, maybe dark brown, and not fat or skinny.’ That’s pretty bare bones.”

“Robin had mentioned Theodore Glenn after Bethany’s murder. Glenn had been involved with Bethany and Robin felt something was off about him from the moment they first met. I didn’t hold much weight to that-a lot of those guys are creeps-but I quietly looked into Glenn’s background. Just to check him out. Corporate attorney, wealthy, owned a plane, a stunt junkie. He didn’t seem to fit. But-”

“Go on.”

“After Brandi was killed Robin told me about his relationship with Brandi, and how he came in the night after the murder and asked about Brandi. Something about the way he asked disturbed Robin. I showed her the sketch and she identified him. Even though the eyewitness was vague, with Robin’s identification I could petition the court for a mandatory DNA sample from Glenn. I couldn’t hold him past the seventy-two hours, but the lab was working on the DNA and we were watching Glenn. If I had a suspect in custody, the lab would push the DNA tests to the forefront.”

“But the evidence was thrown out.”

“Don’t fucking remind me. All the evidence from Bethany’s crime scene was contaminated. We could use nothing from it. When I had to let Glenn go it just about killed me. I knew he was guilty. But until Brandi was killed, we didn’t even know we had contaminated evidence.”

“What I need to know is how Glenn got away with killing Jessica Suarez.”

“You know that, Trinity. You saw the picture.”

“But what I don’t understand is why you didn’t know Frank Sturgeon had a drinking problem?”

Will closed his eyes and drained his Scotch. The bartender came over and nodded toward the glass. Will shook his head. He would not end up like his dead partner.

“What are you doing, Trinity?” he asked quietly.

“I’m trying to figure out what happened seven years ago.”

“Theodore Glenn killed four women, was convicted, sent to death row, and has since escaped from prison. What more do you want to know? What more can help anyone?”

“He said-”

“Theodore Glenn is a sociopath, Trinity. He’s a liar. You can’t believe everything he says.”

“But what if he’s telling the truth?”

“Off the record?”

“Of course.”

“We’re quietly looking into Anna Clark’s homicide. I can’t reopen it, not based on the word of the man who was convicted of her murder-a man who has now admitted to killing at least three other women-but I’m listening to you, Trinity.

“But,” Will continued, “digging into the past isn’t going to do either of us any good.”

“Finding the truth will-”

“Buy you a ticket to New York City. I get that.”

“You make my career sound evil, Will. That’s not fair.”

“I’m doing this on the QT, Trinity. I don’t want this on the front page until Chief Causey gives his press conference. Got it?”

She nodded. “All right. Off the record, Will. What did you know about Frank Sturgeon seven years ago?”

“Off the record?”

“Have I ever lied to you, Will? In the ten years I’ve known you-during the weeks that we dated-did I ever lie to you?”

“Well, there’s this morning.”

“I didn’t lie.”

“You didn’t tell me everything.”

“I couldn’t.”

“And now you can?”

“Are you going to tell me about Frank?” she asked.

Will wanted to haul Trinity’s pretty little ass to prison and make her tell him the truth. He didn’t like these kinds of games.

“If you spill any of this-a word-I swear no cop will ever speak to you again, on or off the record.”

“I give you my word, Will. As you said, though, I have the photograph.”

“We had Glenn under surveillance after we were forced to release him. But there were only the two of us on the case, Frank and me. No one cared that two strippers were dead. Priorities, you know? And the politicians put strippers right down there with hookers. In fact, the D.A. at the time, that prick Bryce Descario, told me when I went to him with the evidence after Brandi’s murder that he had more important cases. ‘Lie down with dogs, Detective,’ he told me with that condescending grin of his. He didn’t care that many of those girls had been abused as kids, that some of them were working their way through college or grad school.”

Will took a deep breath, motioned for the bartender to pour another Scotch. To take the sting out of the past. When she left, he continued, talking to himself as much as to Trinity.

“I couldn’t get more personnel. Now that Glenn is an escaped convict going after mothers and retired cops, I have every man I need. But then, I had no one. Just me and Frank. And Frank-” He took a deep breath. “Frank wasn’t all right back then. He had some personal problems, had a couple DUIs that no cop ticketed him for. He swore up one side and down the other that Theodore Glenn never left his house the night Jessica was killed. We were taking turns, you know. I did one night, Frank did the other. We were doing this off the clock. We still had to cover our shift.”

“But you didn’t believe Frank,” Trinity said quietly. “If Frank swore Glenn didn’t leave his house, how did Chandler get a conviction?”

“If you remember, Frank didn’t testify.”

Trinity thought back and nodded. “You were the arresting officer.”