LITMIR.BIZ

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It isn’t bad. We were able to stop the bleeding by applying some pressure to it.” Jake appreciated how she tried to control her shaking.

      “Adeline, you did great. Go with these detectives. We’re going to keep you away from the press until this is over. Are you going be okay?” Nick asked.

      “Yes, is everyone else going to be?”

      “We hope so. These detectives will take your statement,” Longo said.

      Louie started to escort her to the ambulance. Adeline leaned over and thanked Jake for helping her.

      “No problem. You sure you’re good? The EMT is going to check you anyway, to be sure,” Louie said

      “I’ll be fine. But I’m worried about the others. If I’d known they were going to let me go, I would’ve let someone else go out. He put a gun to my head… I thought I was a goner.” She finished her statement, then leaned over and threw up.

      Jake motioned for the EMT. Louie took the rest of her statement before he handed her off to a patrolman and then headed back to the command post.

      “How is she?” Nick asked.

      “She’ll be fine. The gun to the head freaked her out,” Louie said.

      “That’ll do it.”

      “What do they want?” Jake asked.

      Louie added a question of his own. “Did they call Noones yet?”

      “Yes. They want the usual,” Nick Longo replied to both.

      “It’s not like they’re going to get away with it,” Jake said. Everyone’s radios crackled to life.

      It seemed the Channel Eight News chopper had picked up a hot pursuit on Route 8, heading from Wilkesbury to Bridgeport. The state police had tried to pull over a car on a routine check when it took off. They were now closing down entrance ramps, rerouting any cars not involved in the pursuit. There is never a dull moment in this job.

      After seven long hours, the bank robbery suspects gave themselves up. Both gunmen incurred layoffs and had run out of money, with no job prospects in their futures. When questioned, they said they had run out of food to feed their families and after a night of drinking the idea came to them. It never shocked Jake how stupid most criminals were, but these two took the cake

      The pursuit on Route 8 ended fast. It had nothing to do with the bank robbery as first reported.

      On their way home, Louie reminded him again about the party for Marisa the following week. Tomorrow they’d handle the paperwork for this incident. Though a long day, he’d put in time on Eva’s file tonight. He had to go into the meeting prepared. “What, do I look like I have no memory?” Jake asked. If Louie was setting him up again…he’d… Never mind, he thought, it isn’t worth it.

      “No, Marisa said to remind you. Gigi keeps asking if you’re coming.” Louie fluttered his eyelashes.

      “Great. Can’t you douse this before the party?”

      “No, you can do it. It’ll give you a lesson in parenting.”

      Jake shot him the snake eye. “For Marisa.” Jake changed the subject. “Does Sophia want me to bring anything?”

      “No, we’re all set. Sophia hired the band and the bartender last week to lock them in. Good thing I’ve got a job.”

      “You’re not fooling anyone. You get into this as much as Sophia.”

      “You’re right, I love it.”

      Jake dropped Louie off at his house before he headed home.

      * * * *

      Outside of struggling with his emotions all week, Jake focused his concentration on the cases at hand. Otherwise it was a quiet week as they fell into the routine of murder—following up with witnesses, the M.E., and the lab. Like Shanna Wagner, Chelsea Adams was well-liked, minded her own business, and hadn’t caused any ripples until her divorce. Taking a husband to the cleaners could gain a person an enemy, he mused.

      A long, tedious day, had gotten longer when Jake stopped by the nursing home and visited his mother. She showed a few sparks when he walked into her room, but who knows? Long ago, she’d forgotten she had another child who needed her.

      At home, he decided to continue to explore through Eva’s files in small increments. Small doses were all he could handle in his melancholy mood. Each crime scene photo stabbed him in the heart. His father’s neat print in the margins jumped off the pages. Jake bogged through his detectives’ incident reports and evaluations to make sure no details were overlooked. Again, it hit him how similar Eva’s and Shanna’s cases were. The third box he opened hit hard. A sampling of Spaulding’s stained shirt and jeans still held the coppery smell of blood. Eva’s blood. His father’s fellow officers had made sure he had all the evidence he’d need in the future if new evidence surfaced. Knuckling away a tear, he rummaged through the box. A sample of George Spaulding’s brand of cigarettes, along with a smoked one, were stored in sealed envelopes. Jake decided to give one of the samples to Burke to have it tested against the recent samples of DNA collected from George. Though he thought he wanted Louie here, he found this first time through was better alone. It had been years since he’d subjected himself to the trauma. Maybe when he got to the fiftieth time through the file he’d be able to control his emotions.

      * * * *

      The next day, Jake woke to a typical rainy New England April day. The temps dropped to the low fifties. His concession to the weather was a heavier sports jacket. When he got into the station and sat at his desk, he put a call into Chief Beau Taylor.

      Jake got him on the first try. “Chief, it’s Jake Carrington from Wilkesbury, Connecticut.”

      “Please call me Beau. How did your situation turn out?”

      “We got the guys. The officer who got shot is doing great. Thanks for asking.”

      “Good. I checked on Jeffrey Adams and his perky new bride Lola. I do need to tell you—she had quite the mouth on her. I thought I was talking to a trucker.” Beau laughed. “She wasn’t happy to see me.”

      “No?”

      “No. She started off telling me she wasn’t going talk to me without an attorney before I even explained why I was there. It got my eye a-twitching. Y’all understand my meaning, Connecticut?”

      “I do, Chief. Who told her about the murder?”

      “She said she got a call about the ex-wife’s murder. She knew someone would come and start bothering them with questions. I pointed out Mrs. Adams wasn’t happy about being dead, either.”

      Jake let out a laugh. “Sorry to interrupt, I would’ve loved to have been there.”

      “Oh yeah, a refreshing break in my routine. I told her to call her lawyer and we’d settle my questions at the police station. After a staring contest, the ex-husband said they’d be happy to answer any questions I have. Imagine that.”

      “I’m imagining. Did they give you anything?” Jake laughed. He could see the scene play out.

      “Well, the ex-husband worked all weekend at his second job. He’s an assistant manager at a small restaurant here in Neptune. His alibi checks out. Now his shy, delicate wife claimed to have spent the weekend with her girlfriend over in Miami while her husband worked. I called her girlfriend. She hemmed and hawed when I asked her to verify Lola’s visit on the sixteenth. At first, she agreed, until I told her that if she lied, she would face charges, including prison time. Understanding the severity of the situation, she immediately corrected her previous statement. Said she hasn’t seen Lola since her wedding. Connecticut, do you want me to verify flights on my end?”

      “Thanks, Beau, I’ll check them out from here. Can I get the girlfriend’s information in Miami? I appreciate your time on this. If I run into any problems with the flights, I’ll

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