The Sleeping Beauty Killer

33

That night at dinner, the smell of butter, thyme, and a perfectly roasted chicken filled Laurie’s apartment. “This was such a treat, Dad.”

Leo was supposed to have had a mini-reunion with some of his police pals at Gallagher’s Steakhouse. To Laurie’s surprise, he had dinner warming in the oven when she came home. The men’s night had been canceled when two of Leo’s friends, still on the job, had been called to Times Square on reports of an unattended van containing a suspicious package. Two hours later, the NYPD confirmed that the panic was a false alarm. The van’s driver had inadvertently left the engine running while he ran upstairs to his sister’s apartment to give a toy to his niece, and then stayed to visit with his family. The city was safe, and Laurie had enjoyed a delicious home-cooked meal.

Timmy was breathlessly replaying the reports that had come to Leo’s phone earlier in the evening. “Mom, they evacuated three blocks-in the middle of Times Square! They had swat trucks and bomb-sniffing dogs. And Grandpa knew it all, before the news even reported it.”

Leo reached over and patted Timmy on the shoulder, but looked melancholy.

After Timmy asked to be excused, Laurie asked her father, “Do you miss it? The job? Being in the middle of the action?”

She had probably asked him that same question a hundred times in the last six years. His answer was always some variation of saying that the best job he ever had was helping to raise his grandson. But tonight, he was absolutely honest. “Sometimes, yes. I remember that awful day in 2001. We all knew the world was changing in unimaginable ways, but I felt like I was helping. Tonight, I made a chicken. It’s a quieter life.”

She didn’t know what to say, so she remained silent, kissing him on the cheek before clearing the dishes.

She was not surprised when Leo followed her into the kitchen and asked how the show was coming along. She had a hard time explaining her mixed feelings. On the one hand, she’d been lucky to get so many pieces connected quickly.

In theory, Gabrielle and Jason were both credible alternative suspects. She knew from the original police reports that both of them had said they went home alone after the gala, meaning either one of them could have gone up to Connecticut and killed Hunter. But she still lacked strong evidence pointing to a killer other than Casey.

“I don’t know, Dad, maybe you were right. I may not have more to add to the original investigation after all.”

He leaned against the kitchen counter and crossed his arms. In her eyes, she remembered him at the head of a squad room before roll call on Take Your Daughter to Work Day. She couldn’t believe that since then a quarter of a century had passed.

“Look,” he said, “I happen to think the system works 99.9 percent of the time, which means-yeah-I think the odds are slim this woman is innocent. But I’m also your father, so in the end, I’m on your side. With every production, you find yourself overwhelmed by the number of stories floating around. You manage to turn it into a riveting show, and you’ve delivered an impressive amount of justice in the meantime. Just remember that your main goal is to put out a fair and fine piece of television. Let the viewers decide what they think about Casey.”

It was good advice, but her own desire for the truth always had a way of taking over. “Maybe I should have been a cop instead.”

“Too rebellious,” he said with a wink. “Besides, Timmy’s going to be the next family member with a badge. Just you watch. Have you run any of these characters past Alex? He’s always a good sounding board for you.”

“He has been in the past,” she said, involuntarily emphasizing the last word. “Now that he’s not working for the studio, I’m not sure how much to burden him with work talk.”

Leo shook his head. “When are you going to accept that nothing you ask of him is a burden? Alex cares about you. If you let him in, I’m sure he’d be more than happy to lend you an ear.”

Alex cares about you, she thought. If you let him in… The words were echoing in her head and then, out of nowhere, she was crying.

Her father immediately grabbed her shoulders. “Laurie, sweetie, what is wrong?”

“I’ve been trying, Dad. You have no idea how much I’ve been trying to let him in.” Her father was cradling her, telling her that everything would be okay, but a wave of emotion overcame her. The night Alex told her he was leaving the show. The moment Brett said he was hiring his best friend’s nephew. The exhaustion of the last several days, working morning until night. And, finally, that unavoidable feeling in her stomach that Alex had lied to her.

“When I tried to talk to Alex at his apartment about the case, he seemed uncomfortable. I thought my complaints about Ryan were making him feel guilty. But then it turns out that he knew Casey’s cousin, Angela.” The words were spilling out of her. “And he met Hunter and his family at a law firm picnic. Then when I asked him about it on Monday, he was… evasive. I could tell he was hiding something from me.”

“Do you want me to call him? Talk to him man-to-man?”

She laughed and wiped the tears from her face. “How many times do I have to tell you that grown women can’t have their fathers handle all their problems?”

“But this shouldn’t be a problem, Laurie. We know Alex. He’s a good, honest man.”

“I know. But you’re the one who has taught me always to trust my instincts. And I’m telling you, there’s a reason Alex doesn’t want me talking to him about this case. He’s hiding something.”

Her father was about to launch another defense of Alex when Timmy came running into the room. His iPad was outstretched in hands that were still small enough that both were required to hold his tablet. “Hey, Mom, I have something for you.”

The last time he handed her his iPad, he’d gotten her hooked on a game in which plants battled against zombies. She couldn’t afford that kind of distraction right now.

“I don’t think I’ve earned enough free time for a new game, Timmy.”

“It’s not a game,” he insisted. “I set up a Google alert on your name, and there’s a new hit. Some blogger named Mindy Sampson wrote all about your next show.”