Page 11 of Innocent Intent

“Nothing solid, but I’m about to go through the security footage from the night of the murder. Footage that we should have already had, but I had to request it.”

Another gut punch signifying that Harper had dropped the ball. In the year that Davis had been with APD, Harper had proven to be good at his job. However, this one situation proved what Davis had always believed. Being emotionally attached was the best way to screw up an investigation.

“You alluding to something, Davis?” As always, their captain took the role of defending Harper. They had history; he and Davis had none.

“No, simply stating facts. We should have had this before the crime scene was wrapped up. I’ve lost valuable time locking down potential leads because of Harper’s negligence.”

“How about you stop pointing the finger and do your job? We’re keeping this internal because of our relationship with Cass, but there’s no guarantee that media outlets won’t get their hands on this. We need to have something solid, considering the delicacy of the situation.”

Something that took the heat off Cassidy Evans.

“I won’t rush this, Captain. If that’s what you expect—”

“I’m not asking you to. Only reminding you—”

“That she’s one of you. Understood.”

“Us. You’re a part of this family now, Davis. Stop isolating yourself.”

Davis chose not to respond, and neither said another word as Davis began clicking through the files the security company had sent over. They were organized into multiple folders, labeled by time segments, and broken up into three-hour increments. Knowing the potential time of death, Davis decided it was best to begin with the window of time closest to the actual crime. He bypassed the ones from earlier in the day.

The captain moved in closer to get a better view when the visual of the parking garage filled the screen. Davis clicked to fast-forward, advancing the footage and pausing when the camera picked up a familiar tracksuit, the one Williams wore the night he was murdered. Shortly after seeing Williams exit his vehicle, another familiar face caught Davis’s attention as Williams entered the elevator bay. Cassidy Evans. She’d followed Williams at a safe distance, seemingly unnoticed by him.

Bingo.

“You see this?”

“What?”

“This . . .” Davis played the footage back and paused it once a clear visual of Cassidy was on the screen.

“Shit,” Captain Jones mumbled. “That’s all they sent? What about the interior cameras?”

“Don’t exist.”

Captain Jones’s expression hardened. “What?”

“When I reached out to property management, they got me in touch with the owner. He informed me that many exclusive people lived in the building, and they valued their privacy. The only cameras on-site cover the exterior of the building and the parking garage. They don’t even have ’em on the elevators.”

“Fucking privilege,” Captain Jones murmured.

“I guess, but this doesn’t look good. She’s not on record mentioning she was at the scene a few hours before the crime was committed . . . unless Harper left it out of his report.”

The two shared a knowing look before Captain Jones discredited the accusation. “If he knew, it would’ve been in there.” He motioned to the file, and Davis nodded.

“And hold on . . .”

Davis went back to the footage and allowed it to play. He took in the details of Williams disappearing into the elevator bay and then Cassidy shortly after. She reentered the garage and pulled out her phone while returning to her vehicle, making back-to-back calls. You could see her eventually engaging in a very animated conversation before returning to her car. At that point, with the distance from the camera and darkness hovering over the corner where she was parked, you couldn’t see much else. He fast-forwarded again until three hours later when the car lights illuminated, and Cassidy slowly pulled from the space she was in and left the garage.

“A little over three hours, Captain. Evans was there for three hours, and that means she very well could have done this.”

“Could have but didn’t. She never got out of the vehicle again.”

“Not that we know of, but look at this.” Davis paused the video again and pointed to something on the screen. It was the dim glow of an exit sign. There was a stairwell in the corner near where Cassidy was parked. “Who’s to say she didn’t slip out the other side of the vehicle, go into the stairwell, and enter the building that way? There are no cameras inside. No one would have ever known.”

“I know. There’s no way she did this.”

Davis scowled at the captain. “You do understand that if she did, she’s not getting any special treatment or favors. At least not from me. I’m investigating this crime the same as I would any other.”

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