Page 40 of I Want You
I went back to my desk to collect my things before hitting the streets, including my notebook with my interview notes from the Karrigan case. It usually stayed locked in my desk drawer, but of all things, carrying a notebook around was the least suspicious. Unlocking my cell, I brought up my text chain with Wes.
Me: I have my notes from the Karrigan case. Scarlett’s going to try to make a copy of the case file after everyone else is gone. If she can get it, I’ll get it over to you.
Wes: Good.
I held back my eye roll, but just barely. It wasn’t like he could see me anyway.
“Wilder,” Captain called from his doorway.
“Sorry, Cap. I had some things to finish up here. I’m heading out now.” I was supposed to be on patrol duty thirty minutes ago. We weren’t the most formal department in a lot of things, but Chief Williams and Captain Langston still tried to run a tight ship, or so I thought.
“Got a minute?” he asked.
“Sure.” I put my notebook in my back pocket and followed him into his office. He shut the door behind me. Considering there were no windows in his office, it was surprisingly bright, if a little cramped. The L-shaped desk took up a good amount of space. Four computer monitors crowded the desktop, two on each leg of the desk. The two in front of him were for his regular PC, while the two on the side showcased the camera feeds from around the station. Scarlett was sitting at her desk. Was Cap watching when she had her ass bent over it? I gritted my teeth, instantly irritated at that thought.
Captain pulled out his cushy leather chair—which stillrolled along the floor instead of dragging on stuttered wheels—and sat, gesturing for me to sit as well. The two plastic-back chairs with only the minimal amount of padding weren’t chosen for comfort, and I had no illusions that it was a coincidence. I folded myself onto the seat. “What’s up?”
“Your brother is good friends with Wesley Winters, no?”
“He is,” I confirmed.
Captain sat back in his chair with his hands clasped around his middle. He wasn’t old by any stretch, maybe in his early forties, and his years of fitness from being on the force still showed through, but he was softening more and more now that he was no longer out on the streets like he used to be.
“He’s been trying to get in touch with me, looking for information about our department, policies, procedures, documentation, and the like. There isn’t much I can give him regarding specifics, as it’s against department policy to share those with the public without a written request under the Freedom of Information Act, which he did. But in this case, the exceptions prohibit us from releasing the information he wants.”
“I can let him know, sir.”
“My hands are tied, Wilder. I know he’s digging on behalf of Redmond, and I get that. Kid deserves a fair trial, if only to ensure he doesn’t get off on a technicality for murdering that poor girl.” Captain shook his head, the light in his eyes dimming at the thought of the worst crime Calla Bay had seen in decades. “Winters though, if he thinks he has a lead that needs following—something specific—I want to know.”
Seemed like Wes was coming in from the front, making official requests for information and not hiding his agenda. I could understand Cap’s viewpoint. If this was my team, myresponsibility, I would want to know if something was off too.
“Understood, sir,” I told him. I wasn’t making any promise to follow his instructions. Not until I had more information myself.
“Now, get out there and get to work,” he said, dismissing me.
* * *
“Your handwriting is atrocious,” Wes mumbled. I met him at his house again, or rather, the garage. In all the years since Wes had owned his house, I think I had been inside it only a handful of times.
“Everything gets entered into our system electronically. I didn’t think anyone else was going to be seeing my notes,” I said.
“How many people did you interview?” he asked, flipping through the notebook.
“Her parents, individually and separately. Her friends, her teachers, her volleyball coach and the girls on her team, the guidance counselor who helped set Alana up as a peer-to-peer tutor for Redmond his senior year. Redmond’s acquaintances, his old boss, the guy who called it in the morning she was found.” I listed off the dozens of people we talked to during our investigation.
“They all in here?”
“No. But most of them are. There were a few that Monroe took notes during. I’ll get the digital copy of those notes, butI figured this was a place to start.”
“It is,” he agreed. “I want that case file.”
“Working on it.”
I sipped the beer in my hand, wishing it were whiskey. My feelings on this were jumbled and confused. On the one hand, I trusted Wes, and I needed to know if we had a dirty cop—or cops—on our streets. But on the other hand, it felt like a betrayal to the men and women who I worked alongside every day, who put their trust in me, the same I did—or should—to them.
My phone vibrated in my pocket with an incoming call. I looked at the screen and saw that it was Scarlett.
“I have to take this,” I said to Wes. He was flipping through the notes and barely stopped to do a quick head nod of acknowledgment. I swiped to answer the call quickly. “Hey, Scarlett. What’s up?”
