Allison Brennan - See No Evil

“Detective Hooper is on his way to interview him. But it wasn’t him.”

“And you know this how?”

“Santos wouldn’t have left that girl alive upstairs.”

“If he knew she was in the house.”

Andrew opened and closed his mouth, proving to Dillon there was additional evidence that either discredited the Herman Santos theory, or pointed to Emily.

But a plea? That told Dillon that the police didn’t have a solid case against Emily, grandstanding notwithstanding. It had been less than forty-eight hours. Andrew was getting restless because it was a high-profile case. Pressure came from everywhere.

Dillon wondered whether Santos had in fact pulled off the judge’s murder. On the one hand, the brazenness of the murder suggested payback, and Santos was both brash and arrogant. He could pull it off. But on the other hand, two members of Wishlist had their tormentor killed. Dillon didn’t buy into that coincidence.

“I still have Emily for thirty hours. You’re not getting to her.”

“Dammit, Dillon, we’re on the same side!”

Dillon hadn’t yet trusted Andrew with the information that Victor had sexually abused Emily. The court would have the information soon enough, if the case got that far.

“Emily is innocent. I’m not giving her to you one minute before I have to.” Dillon stared at Andrew. “I’ll commit her myself if I have to, while the police work the case. There’s much, much more to this than a simple domestic violence.”

“Shit, Dillon.” Andrew stuffed his hands into his pockets and paced. “We have blood evidence that she was at the crime scene. Her fingerprints were on his desk. The weapon-pruning shears-was found on the grounds. I can make a case against her. I want her accomplices.”

“What if she’s telling the truth?”

“How would I know? You’ve kept her under medical wraps, we haven’t even been able to talk to her! You’re making this harder on everyone involved, particularly Julia.”

“Why did you put Julia Chandler on administrative leave?”

Andrew stopped walking. “She’s going through a difficult time. She’s getting paid. I just don’t-”

“It’s not because she hired an attorney for Emily. It’s because of Connor.”

At the mention of his name, Andrew reddened. “Connor is a loose cannon. You can’t trust him, even if he is your brother.”

Dillon took a step toward his former brother-in-law. They were the same height, so it was easy to get in his face.

He said in a low voice, “You hate Connor because he exposed your affair after Justin was killed. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“That has nothing to do with it.” But the punch was out of Andrew’s words.

Dillon nodded. “You were in bed with your mistress when your son was murdered, and you’ll live with that truth for the rest of your life. Now Julia is paying for your guilt because you feel better blaming Connor than looking into your own heart.”

Andrew’s mouth opened and closed.

Dillon softened his tone. He didn’t hate Andrew, and he didn’t want to hurt him. “Don’t be so blinded by the past that you jeopardize this investigation. I won’t let Emily be a pawn in your game.”

“In thirty hours, she’s ours.”

“Don’t push me, Andrew.”

“You’re jeopardizing your career.”

“I’ll let Emily talk to the police when I think she’s ready. Not a minute before.”

“When do you think she’ll be ready?” Andrew barely restrained his anger.

“You’ll be the first to know.”

Julia passed the La Jolla Library on her way home. Jason Ridge was nagging at her. One Bowen client dead, one cleared of murder, and one suspected of murder.

Coincidence? She didn’t believe it. She made a U-turn and pulled into the library parking lot. She couldn’t help but remember that only six weeks ago, a young volunteer of the library was found dead right here.

She shivered, not knowing if it was remembering the brutal murder of Becca Harrison, or thinking about how Garrett Bowen creeped her out. Something about that guy was disconcerting. She’d met him several times in court, in particular when he was assigned to Emily’s case. On the surface he was attractive, professional, and intelligent.

But Emily didn’t trust or like him, and that held a lot of weight with Julia. Comparing Bowen to Dillon Kincaid, there was no comparison. She’d prefer working with Dillon any day of the week.

She walked in and found an available computer terminal to search the newspaper archives for Jason Ridge. She found several articles about his death as well as many about previous games he’d played in, going back to his freshman year. She printed every article she found.

The first article about his death on the field had a byline by someone she didn’t recognize, but the second article’s byline she did recognize: Grace Simpson.

Why was a crime reporter covering the drug-related death of a high school football star?

She read the article carefully.

Mystery Surrounds Football Star Death

By Grace Simpson

Saturday night’s game between the La Jolla Rockets and the San Diego Sprints was interrupted in the third quarter when star Sprints quarterback, senior Jason Ridge, collapsed on the field. He was pronounced dead at the scene after a vigorous attempt to save his life by the league’s doctor, David Mortimer.

A subsequent autopsy on Monday indicated the cause of death to be heart failure due to steroid use.

All varsity football players in public and private schools who play in public leagues are required to be tested at least once a season for steroid use, and can be randomly tested throughout the year. The school released Ridge’s records showing he’d been tested two months before his death and was clean. In his high school career, he’d been tested a total of six times and all were marked “pass” with no traces of steroids or illegal drugs in his system.

The pressure senior Ridge was under this season was more intense than last year, however, according to his grandmother Evelyn Squires of Carlsbad. “Scouts are at every game watching him. It bothered him, the pressure.”

Ridge’s father, James, denied his son used steroids. “Jason loved football and he was naturally a star athlete. He’d never take drugs or steroids. There’s got to be some mistake.”

There was no mistake, according to the coroner’s office spokeswoman Anita Ferrar. “The report is conclusive. Six to twelve hours before his death, Jason ingested four times the safe limit of an anabolic steroid popular among bodybuilders.”

Dr. Mortimer said he’d never heard of an athlete overdosing on steroids. “Steroids cause death usually from repeated use,” he explained. “I’ve known Jason for four years and he’s the last person I’d expect to take steroids.”

Steroid use has been under scrutiny nationwide and colleges are cracking down on players who use. “One strike, you’re out,” UCSD football coach Brian Kyak said. “We don’t control the testing anymore, it comes from the league. They don’t play favorites.”

Jason’s friends were shocked, but one high school junior who asked to remain anonymous said, “Jason was under a lot of pressure this year, especially after all the rumors about him and his girlfriend.”

Jason’s ex-girlfriend, Michelle O’Dell, refused to discuss their past relationship, saying only, “Jason had issues. He was getting help.”

When asked, his father declined to comment about any issues O’Dell may have been referring to.

The police are looking into how Jason obtained the steroids. The selling of steroids without a medical license is illegal in California.

A memorial service will be held this afternoon at 4 p.m. at Good Shepherd Church in San Diego. A private burial service will follow. The Sprints head coach retired Jason Ridge’s jersey, Number 10, in a somber school assembly Monday.