Redemption Road

18

Beckett watched the circus unfold. Alsace Shore. The lawyers. They were in the lobby beyond the glass, arguing, posturing. The Charlotte attorneys made the most noise, but that made perfect sense: $1,500 an hour between the three of them, the client right there and just as red-faced. Only Crybaby Jones seemed at ease. He stood a few feet to the side, both hands on his cane, his head tilted attentively as detectives tried to explain that none of them, in fact, represented Channing Shore.

“She doesn’t want a lawyer. She’s waived the right-”

“She’s too young for that. I’m her father. These are her lawyers. Right here! Right now! I demand to see her!”

“Sir, I need you to calm down, and I’ll explain again. Your daughter’s eighteen. She doesn’t want a lawyer.”

But Alsace Shore was not the calming kind. He had his own suspicions, Beckett thought. And, why not? He knew what Channing could do with a gun. That meant he knew the danger she was in now, that one wrong word could change her life forever. Beckett felt sick from the thought, but mostly that was about Liz. He’d made a promise and wasn’t sure he could keep it.

“How long has this been going on?” Beckett leaned into the sergeant, who shrugged.

“An hour.”

“Has Dyer been out?”

“Shit rolls downhill. You know that.”

“Call me if it gets worse.”

Beckett left the front desk and worked his way toward the interview rooms. Hamilton and Marsh had the girl in isolation with the local cops frozen out. Uniformed troopers barred the door. Even Dyer was banned, and that made the tension unmistakable, as if the AG thought the locals were covering for one of their own and only the state cops knew right from wrong, as if God himself wanted Liz to fry.

It tied Beckett into knots.

Liz was clean.

How could they not see that?

But they didn’t. Occam’s razor. The obvious explanation. Whatever. The truth was a coal he wanted to puke from his chest.

The kid is the goddamn shooter!

Twenty feet from the troopers, Beckett stopped and checked his watch. They’d had the girl inside for ninety-three minutes. The all-points on Liz was two hours’ old, and every detail was on the wire. Name. Description. Vehicles. Elizabeth was officially wanted for double homicide. Every cop in the state was looking for her, and that was not the worst part.

Suspect considered armed and dangerous.

Approach with caution.

“Where’s Dyer?” Beckett caught a uniformed officer by the sleeve as she passed. She pointed, and Beckett bulled through the hall, people scrambling to get out of his way. He found Dyer near the conference room. “Where’ve you been?”

“Making phone calls.”

“Have you seen this?” Beckett pushed a copy of the all-points at Dyer.

“It’s why I’m making calls.”

“Those state cops are going to get her killed.”

“What do you want me to do, Charlie? They have an indictment for double murder. She’s on the run and armed, and the state cops know it.”

“She didn’t kill anyone.”

Dyer’s eyebrow went up. “Are you sure?”

“Just find her.”

“I have people on the street.”

“Send more. We need to be the ones to find her. Us. Her people.”

“She could be out of the county by now, out of the state.”

“Not Liz.” Beckett was certain. “Not with Channing Shore in custody.”

Dyer crossed his arms. “Is there something I should know?”

Beckett looked away and choked on the same hot coal. “All I can say is, she’s got a crazy-strong connection to this kid.”

“Like the Gideon thing?”

“Stronger, maybe.”

“That’s not possible.”

A day ago Beckett would have said the same thing. Now he wasn’t so sure. “There’s a connection there, Francis. It’s deep and instinctual. Primal, even. She won’t leave the girl.”

“Whatever the case. Best thing we can do is to bring her in and straighten this out through channels. Counseling. Lawyers. Everybody runs dark at times, and anybody can snap. All we can do now is work the fallout.”

“You really think she killed those men?”

“Animals, Charlie. That’s what she said.”

“Francis-”

“Let’s just get her home and safe. Deal?”

“Sure. Yeah. Deal.”

Beckett watched Dyer all the way to his office, then talked to the first trooper he could find. “I want to talk to Hamilton.” The state cop was six-three and solid, unflinching in the brimmed hat and dove-gray uniform. “Don’t give me that dead-eye, state-cop fucking stare. Go find him.”

It took a few minutes. When Hamilton came out, Beckett didn’t waste time. “Is she talking?”

“That’s why you brought me out here?”

“Has she given you anything? Yes or no?”

Hamilton studied Beckett’s face, thinking about what he saw on it. Determination maybe. Maybe desperation. “She’s staring at the table. Hasn’t said a single word.”

“You’ve had her for two hours.”

“She’s a tough little nut.”

“Walk with me.” Beckett moved for the back stairs.

Hamilton trailed along. “There’s nothing I can do for your partner. You know that.”

Beckett led him into the break room downstairs. “You want a Coke?”

“Indictment, man. Come on. My hands are tied.”

“It’s all right. Have a Coke.”

Beckett fed a bill into the machine, pushed a button, and waited for the bottle to drop. When it did, he opened it and took a sip. “What does your boss want?”

“Your partner tortured and executed two men. What do you think he wants?”

“Reelection.”

“Funny.”

“Will he take the case capital?”

“Death penalty. Life in prison. Do you really think it matters?”

“Yeah.” Beckett bought another Coke. “Damn straight.” Beckett handed over the bottle, then bent for his change to buy time. When he straightened, the decision was made. “I can make her talk.”

“Channing? I seriously doubt it.”

“Do you want to know what happened in the basement or not?”

“Of course, I want to know.”

“Give me five minutes alone with her.” Beckett sipped from the bottle, and his eyes were flat. “The kid will fucking talk.”

When Beckett walked into the interview room, the girl sat alone at a metal table. He sat across from her, empty-handed. Channing kept her head down, but Beckett saw a pearl of blood at the quick of her nail, the places she’d chewed her bottom lip raw. “I’m Detective Beckett. I’m Elizabeth’s partner.” She stirred at the name, but kept her eyes down. “I know you’re Liz’s friend. I know you care. I’m her friend, too.” Beckett put his elbows on the table. “Do you believe me?”

“I believe you’re her friend.”

“That’s good. Thank you for that. Do you understand that there’s an arrest warrant with her name on it?”

“Yes.”

“That she’s charged with double homicide for what happened in the basement?”

The girl nodded.

“That means she could go to prison for life and might be executed. Do you understand that, too?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think that’s fair?”

Nothing.

Stillness.

“What if she gets hurt when they arrest her? There’re a dozen state patrolmen in the county looking just for her. Every cop in the state has her picture. What if she gets shot or wrecks a car or hurts somebody trying to elude arrest? What happens to her, then? Life on the run? Life with nothing? You understand that North Carolina is a death-penalty state?”

“She told me not to say anything.”

“I know she did. And I know why, too.” The girl looked up at that. “It’s okay. I know what happened.”

“She told you?”

“I’m a cop. I figured it out. Others will, too.” The girl looked away, and Beckett waited for her to look back. “Does the name Billy Bell mean anything to you?” It did. He saw it in the twitch of her hands, and in the sudden flush he knew was shame. “He works as a gardener for your parents. I spoke to him this morning.”

“So?”

She was on the edge, and Beckett made his voice hard because on the edge meant nothing. He needed her broken.

“Billy bought drugs for your mother. Mostly, he bought them from Brandon and Titus Monroe. Pills. Cocaine. That went on for years. That’s fact. But you knew that, didn’t you? That your mother’s a user. That your gardener had a connection. You wanted to meet that connection. You and your friends. You wanted to be bad. You wanted the thrill.” Channing tensed, a moment of terror in her eyes. That’s when Beckett knew he was right. “Do you know what an affidavit is?”

“Maybe.”

“It’s a sworn statement, admissible in court. Billy Bell signed one this morning. Would you like to read it?”

“No.”

Beckett withdrew a folded paper from his pocket and placed it on the table. “You would have never been in that basement if you and your friends hadn’t wanted to walk on the wild side. But that’s what happened, isn’t it? You bought drugs from the Monroe brothers, and they came back and they took you. It wasn’t random. They didn’t find you on the street.”

“It was just the once. Please. We just wanted to try it.”

“Drugs?”

“Marijuana. Just the once.”

“And they came back for you.”

She nodded, small.

“What happened in that basement was your fault.” Beckett leaned forward and challenged her with every ounce of cop he had. “What happened to Liz was your fault, too. I’ve seen her wrists. I see how she’s falling apart.”

A sound escaped the girl’s throat.

“It’s time to tell the truth, Channing. To take responsibility for what happened in that basement.”

“What happens to Elizabeth if I do?”

He leaned back in the chair. “Liz walks free. Her life goes on.” The girl turned her head, but Beckett wasn’t finished. “Looking away is the easy part,” he said. “It always has been. The only real question is if you’ll let Liz die with a needle in her arm because you and your friends decided to get high. You okay with that? Look at me. This is your chance to do what’s right. Right here. Right now.”

The girl took her time. He let her have it.

“Does Liz know you’re doing this?”

“I told her I wouldn’t.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Because I look out for people I love, no matter the cost.”

“You love her?” Channing asked.

“Other than my wife she’s the best friend I’ve ever had.”

Channing considered his words for another long minute, and Beckett saw the instant she broke. “I’ll do it on one condition.”

“What?”

Channing told him what she wanted.

Beckett looked at the two-way glass, then shrugged and pushed a notepad across the table. “All right.”

The girl smoothed cuffed hands across the page.

Beckett held the pen where she could see it. “But, I want all of it.”

“Everything.”

“On camera and uncensored.”

“For her,” Channing said; and Beckett nodded.

“For Liz.” He gave her the pen. “Because she would do the same for you.”

Beckett watched the girl write, then took the page and folded it into a pocket. Two minutes later he was on the other side of the glass, and Marsh was setting up a video camera to take the girl’s statement. She looked small but determined.

Hamilton saw the emotion on Beckett’s face. “What did she give you?”

“A note,” Beckett said.

“May I see it?”

“It’s for Liz. It’s personal.”

“I don’t care.”

“You want the note, you fucking shoot me.” Beckett’s face said he was deadly serious.

Hamilton could push it, but why bother? He had the girl, and she was going to talk. “How did you know?”

“About Billy Bell?” Beckett shrugged. “I talked to the gardener this morning. I thought the mother was the only one buying drugs. Turned out it went deeper.”

“That’s not what I meant. How did you know Channing would talk?”

“Maybe I didn’t.”

“I saw your face at the drink machine. You said you could break her in five, yet you did it in two. You were certain.”

“Liz loves the kid.” Beckett studied the girl through the glass, the delicate features and swollen eyes. “I figured maybe the kid loved her back.”

Hamilton didn’t buy it. He leaned against the glass and watched Beckett’s face. “I’ve seen husbands kill their wives; mothers turn on sons. Channing and Detective Black barely know each other. It has to be more than that.”

“Maybe.”

“You have a theory?”

“Maybe she needed to confess.”

“Why?”

“They say familiarity breeds contempt.” Beckett put his hands on the glass, thinking of his wife and the warden and his own bitter mistakes. “Who do we know better than ourselves?”

When the tape was running, it began. Questions came, and the girl spoke haltingly. How she met the Monroe brothers. Where she was when they took her. The state cops walked her through it, and as surprised as they were by the story she told, no one doubted the truth of what she said. The details were too strong, the emotions too real. She spoke of the candle, the mattress, the things they did to her. In places she broke, and in places she froze. The tale of abuse was so hard to hear it shook everyone listening. Forty hours, the child was gone. Forty hours at the hands of monsters. Eventually, she got to the part that tore out the final piece of Beckett’s heart.

Even Hamilton was pale by then, sitting rigidly when he asked the question. “How did you get your hands on the gun?”

“I wouldn’t do what he wanted me to do. The smaller one. Brandon Monroe. I wouldn’t do it, so he hit me again, bit me again.” She stopped; collected herself. “The next time he did that, I bit him back, right here.” She touched the soft spot above her hip bone. “He got angry and threw me against a wall. When he came for me, I tried to crawl away, but he dragged me by the foot. I was scraping at the floor, trying to hold on to something. The gun was just there in the dark.”

“Where was Detective Black at this time?”

“In the other room.”

“Could you see her?”

“Yes. Sometimes.”

“Can you be more specific?” She shook her head; kept shaking it. A full minute passed. “This is what you’re here for,” Hamilton said. “This is what we need.”

A tear slipped down her cheek, and she scrubbed it away. “Elizabeth was on the mattress.”

“Was she awake?”

“Yes.”

“Was she wired?”

The girl said nothing. Another tear fell.

“We need to understand the level of her incapacity, Channing. If she was able to act? Why she didn’t? You tell us she’s not the shooter…”

The girl looked at the two-way glass, and Beckett, on the other side, felt the stare all the way down in his soul.

He’d made this happen.

He’d done it.

“She was wired to the mattress,” Channing said. “Facedown…”

Twenty minutes later Beckett hit the door, and Francis Dyer followed him out into the hall. People stopped and stared. They knew what was happening. Not specifics, but they knew. “What the hell have I done?” Beckett pushed into an empty office. Dyer followed. “Jesus Christ, Francis. Liz will never forgive me.”

“You saved her life. No charges. No prison. You did what cops are supposed to do. You got to the bottom of things.”

“I made her a victim.”

“Titus Monroe did that.”

“You think she’ll be a cop again? You think she’ll just get over it? People will see that testimony. Every cop in here will know what happened, that I broke the most important part of her.”

“You didn’t-”

“That’s bullshit, Francis. We all have our armor; we all need it.” Beckett dragged his hands through his hair. “She’ll never forgive me. Not for this. Not after I promised.”

“Why don’t you get out of here? Take the day. Take a drive.”

“Yeah. Sure. A drive.”

“I’ll need the affidavit, though.”

“What?”

“Billy Bell’s affidavit. The one you showed the girl.”

“Jesus, man. There is no affidavit.” Beckett laughed a ragged laugh and withdrew the same piece of folded paper from his pocket. “This is a blank page. I just pulled it off the printer.”