Page 69 of Break Away
Levi leaned back in his seat at his desk ashe sipped coffee. He couldn’t get past his gut instinct that wastelling him that it wasn’t Clauson harassing Zoey. He tried tothink back over everything he remembered about Charissa Winslow.Which wasn’t a whole lot. She always seemed to be around, but onthe fringes of his life in Hangman’s Loss going back to when he wasa teenager. He frowned, turning over an idea, then pulled out hisphone and opened his favorites list.
“Hello, my boy.”
“Hi, Mom. I’m doing an investigation andthink you might have some helpful information.”
“Me? What could I help you with?”
“Tell me everything you know about CharissaWinslow.”
He heard her sigh. “That poor woman. Is shein trouble?”
“Not sure. Why is she a ‘poor woman’?”
“Rough upbringing. Really rough early on. Thefather, I don’t recall his name, Bruce or Bill, abused both her andDarleen, her mother. Darleen wouldn’t leave him. I talked to heronce, and she gave that pathetic ‘but I love him’ argument whileher face was covered in bruises. I guess you’d say the problemsolved itself because he got himself killed in a knife fight at abiker bar in Big Pine. Darleen had some family, but they were aspoorly off as she was. My nonprofit helped her get on her feet andfind a job, then helped her find a program that provided downpayment assistance so she could buy a house. I think things settleddown after that. Darleen passed away a year or so ago.”
“What about Charissa?”
“Charissa is one of those women who alwaysseems to be trying too hard to find her place. It’s like at thebaseball game Saturday. Everyone is there to support the teams, butshe goes one step too far. Did you see that her jersey had‘Gallagher’ printed on the back?”
“Zoey noticed it, but I get what you mean.Anything else?”
“She still lives in the house she shared withDarleen and she has a job as a clerk for the city. She seemsbrittle, like if you touched her she’d shatter in a millionpieces.”
“Okay, Mom. This helps. Thanks.”
After disconnecting the call, Levi did asearch on the computer and found Charissa’s address, then mentallytraced how one would get to that location from his house. He’dchased a car that evening but had lost it when the driver hadnearly caused an accident by cutting off a semi. The car hadtraveled in the general direction of Charissa’s house. Anothersearch came up with her vehicle information. Ford Escape, silver,eight years old. It fit the vehicle he’d chased that night, andmatched the description of the car Zoey had seen parked along theroad when she’d been shot at.
Brad walked into the bullpen. “IT says thepost about Zoey originated from a city computer located in theoffice Charissa works in. She called in sick today, so Jack hasn’tspoken to her.”
“We get a warrant to search her place?”
“Yeah, just came in. Let’s go. Hopefullyshe’ll be there and we’ll bring her in for questioning.”
Levi rode shotgun as Brad drove to CharissaWinslow’s home. They parked in the street in front of a small homewith an overgrown yard. Jack pulled up behind them in his cruiser.Brad and Jack went to the front door while Levi opened a side gateand went around the back of the house. Like the front, the tinybackyard was choked with weeds, the fence Charissa shared with aneighbor missing slats.
The sound of the backdoor opening had Leviputting a hand on his sidearm until Jack poked his head through.“She’s not home. But, man, you gotta see this.”
Levi entered the house and followed Jack downa short hallway to a tiny bedroom where Brad stood, scanning whatlooked like a hundred photos arranged on bulletin boards or pictureframes around the room. Every one of them containing Levi’s image.He surveyed the array. He recognized one from when he’d been outduring the holidays. There were several of him at Maddy’s café,even some of him checking out the bananas at the grocery store.
“Holy shit.”
Brad pointed at a long-distance image takenof the family barbecue in their mom’s backyard. “It was her acrossthe arroyo. We’ll look for those binoculars and see if they’remissing a lens cap.” He shook his head. “You called it, brother.She’s got it bad for you. Sick bad, and she sees Zoey as athreat.”
There were candles arranged around a trio ofphotos that looked enough like a shrine that Levi’s stomach rolled.Printed on computer paper, the center image showed Levi in theparking lot of Gio’s Pizza.
“Look at this.” He pointed. “I’m wearing thepractice jersey. This was that evening Zoey joined us afterpractice for pizza. We’d left together, and I was talking with her.The photo has been altered to take out Zoey and add Charissa andmake it look like it’s her I’m talking to. Charissa must have beenthere.”
He peered more closely. “From the angle, shewas probably at the far end of the parking lot, maybe sitting inher car. That was the evening when a car drove into the drivewayand I gave pursuit. I’m betting that was her.”
Jack picked up a card from a stack, holdingthe cream-colored cardstock by the edges. “You getting married andnot telling me, bud?”
Levi looked at words printed in goldlettering with a curly script announcing the marriage of Levi JamesGallagher to Charissa Louise Winslow. “Oh shit.”
“The wedding is only a month out. I don’tknow if I can make it on such short notice.”
Levi’s, “Shut up, Jack,” had the other manlaughing.
Brad opened the closet door with a glovedhand and revealed a row of hanging dresses, all with sheer plasticcovers. Each dress had a tag attached to the hanger. He lifted one,peered at it, then the next in the row. “Fuck.”
