The Girl With No Name

Chapter Fifty-Seven

They waited an hour for a lawyer to show up on Rowland’s behalf. Josie recognized him from the higher-profile criminal cases that took place in Alcott County. She didn’t know if Rowland kept him on retainer to handle local matters or if he’d called the man after they brought him into the police station, but Josie knew he was an excellent criminal defense attorney. The moment she and Noah entered the interview room, he immediately launched into a tirade about their myriad violations of Rowland’s rights.

“Excuse me,” Noah interrupted the man. “We asked Mr. Rowland to come to the station to answer some questions and he agreed. We haven’t read him his rights. He is free to leave at any time.”

“We’re just here to talk,” Josie added.

The lawyer looked down his nose at them until Peter Rowland, who was seated beside him smiling politely, touched his arm. “It’s fine,” Rowland assured him. “Please. Let’s see why they’ve asked us here.”

Reluctantly, the lawyer sat beside Rowland. Noah sat down while Josie remained standing. “How long has Leonard Nance worked for you?” she asked.

Rowland’s brow furrowed. “I’m sorry, who?”

Josie took out her phone and pulled up a photo of Nance with half his head blown off that Gretchen had sent from the crime scene. She turned it toward the two men. To their credit, neither showed any reaction. The lawyer said, “I think that’s enough talking for today.”

Rowland said, “I don’t know that man.”

The lawyer stood, straightening his suit jacket. “I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, but we’re leaving now,” he said. “If you’ve got something relevant that you’d like to ask my client, you can call my office.”

Josie looked directly at Rowland, still sitting at the table. “I know about Aaron King,” she said.

The room went eerily silent. She felt the lawyer and Noah staring at her, but her eyes were locked on Rowland’s, a silent flood of communication roaring between them. Without tearing his eyes from Josie’s, he used two fingers to signal his lawyer. The other man leaned down so Rowland could speak into his ear. There was a short but heated discussion that Josie couldn’t make out. Then the lawyer stood up straight, glaring at Josie, and said, “I’ll be outside.”

Josie nodded at Noah and he too exited the room. Josie took a seat across from Rowland.

He leaned his elbows on the table and folded his hands, resting his chin on them. “Tell me, Chief, what is it that you think you know about Aaron King? We are talking about Aaron King, the Interstate Killer, are we not?”

“Yes,” Josie said. “I know he’s your son.”

Rowland kept perfectly still. His gaze drifted away from her face, over her shoulder. For a moment she thought maybe he was looking for a camera, except that his face had taken on a blank, faraway expression. Josie waited a long moment. Finally, he said, “How did you come by this information?”

“I have my resources.”

Now his eyes locked on hers, his gaze sharp again. “I’d like to know what resources you have that helped you come by such confidential information. You know, I have a number of highly sophisticated software programs created and implemented by a team of expert computer hackers who can’t get their hands on information as sensitive as what you claim to have found in the last two days. Perhaps I should hire you.”

There he was, turning on the charm. That was what he did, Josie realized. He was nice, polite, complimentary, but it was a distraction. Josie said, “Sometimes you just have to ask the right people the right questions. How long have you known that Aaron King was one of your donor children?”

“How exactly is this relevant to your investigation into Victor Derossi’s abduction?” Rowland asked.

His lack of response told her that she was right. She would have proof within the next day or two. By then she might even have proof of more damning things. She still wasn’t sure what all the coincidences meant. She needed a lot more information before she could properly use it as leverage against Rowland. But if there was even a chance that he had Victor or knew where the infant was, Josie had to make some kind of move now—especially while his lawyer was out of the room. “Why don’t you tell me what the Interstate Killer has to do with Victor Derossi?” she asked. Two could play at his game of answering a question with a question.

“I wish I knew. What do you plan on doing with this information?”

“It’s not what I’m planning to do with it that you need to worry about.”

“What do you mean?”

“Trinity Payne knows.”

His face paled. “The reporter?”

Josie nodded. “She’s covering the Aaron King trial. She’s very thorough. I used to think that was a bad thing, but in the last year and a half, I’ve found her skills to be quite useful.”

“What does she plan to do with this information?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care. What I care about is getting Victor Derossi back safely. Now I know that Leonard Nance worked for you. I know that he took the baby out from under Eric Dunn’s nose, and I know that he then approached Kim Conway because of her connection to Dunn, and he ended up dead.”

“If you have proof of these assertions, I’m sure my attorney would be interested in that, as would I.”

Josie ignored this. “Where is Victor Derossi?”

He managed a weak smile. “I wish I could help you, I do, but I don’t know anything about Victor Derossi’s abduction. Honestly, Chief Quinn, if I knew what happened to little Victor, I would have been in your office days ago. Now, I asked my attorney to leave because this information that you have come across… I have no desire to have my life turned into a circus. I’m sure you can guess that should I be connected in such a way to Aaron King the publicity would be very damaging both to my personal life and my business.”

“The same way your connection to Victor would hamper my investigation?” Josie said.

“Come now, Chief. You’ve had to bear the scrutiny of the mass media, haven’t you?

She had but she wasn’t about to agree with him. When she didn’t answer, Rowland continued, “I’m sure you can understand why I would not want this information made public. True or not.”

“Then we’re at an impasse, because I can’t help you with that. I’m only here for one reason and that’s to find Victor Derossi.”

“There are very few impasses that money can’t bridge,” Rowland said.

“What are you saying?”

“How much would it take for you to forget what you know and ask Trinity to do the same? Surely there are juicer stories out there.”

“I don’t take bribes, and I can’t speak for Trinity.”

“Not a bribe,” Rowland said. “I’m asking you to perform a service.”

“I serve the city of Denton,” Josie reminded him.

“Yes, and I am one of its citizens. Need I remind you of my recent donation to the mayor’s sorely needed women’s center?”

Josie raised a brow. “Are you threatening to pull your funds?”

He spread his palms in a gesture of helplessness. “I’m not sure the mayor would want her women’s center funded by the father of a serial killer.”

“Then the impasse can’t be broken. Thank you for your time.”