Page 47 of Guarded Secrets
Keeley set her mug on the table with a thunk. “That’s not possible.”
“Identification is preliminary, but unofficially SPD believes it’s her. I’m sorry, Keeley.” Sawyer’s gaze remained steady. “There’s more. Your purse was found in the possession of a homeless woman trying to use one of your credit cards at a convenience store about a mile from where the body was found. The Sacramento police want to talk to you.”
Keeley felt the blood drain from her face. “Do they think I killed her?”
“You were with me all night,” Owen snapped. “No one’s going to believe you had anything to do with it.”
“Being with Owen gives you a solid alibi,” Sawyer affirmed. “Plus, you were in the emergency clinic. You had nothing to do with her death, but the detectives will still have questions. I gave themyour contact info. They want to talk with you this afternoon so be expecting a call to set up a video conference.”
“A kid Demaris knew tried to take your purse.” Owen pinned her with a steady look. “Someone brought him to Sisters, and that could’ve been Demaris. Fernando could’ve been following orders from her, and when that didn’t work she decided to snatch the purse herself. But she didn’t use the credit cards. What else do you carry in your purse, princess?”
“Nothing significant.”
The men shared equally dubious expressions.
“I’ve never even looked in a woman’s purse,” Sawyer claimed.
“Me either,” Owen grumbled. “Who the hell knows what women carry in those things.”
“It’s not like we have the nuclear codes.” Keeley remembered at the last moment not to roll her eyes. “Really, I have nothing special in my purse. The only things of value are credit cards and my phone, which I don’t always carry in my purse. I have my driver’s license and insurance card in my wallet. Other than that, probably a hairclip, pens, tampons. Maybe some receipts. That kind of thing.” She shrugged. “Nothing interesting or of value.”
Sawyer leaned forward. “Let’s try this. Think back over the past several months and the interactions you had with Demaris. Is there anything that stands out as odd or out of character? Also, consider anyone else you’ve been in contact with where things felt off. And I mean anything. This could be here in town, at work, in your social life.”
She nibbled at her breakfast sandwich. “My tires being slashed was unusual. Owen coming to rescue me was unusual.”
“Anything between you and Demaris in the weeks leading up to you getting the flat tire?” Owen asked.
She shook her head slowly.
“You said before Yousef thought Demaris was jealous of you,” Owen reasoned. “We established she was a loner while you were accepted as part of the in crowd. That could lead to jealousy.”
She glanced at Sawyer. “Owen and I already talked about this. I don’t like the term ‘in crowd’ because it makes us sound cliquish, which we weren’t. We invited new teachers, substitute teachers, secretaries. We welcomed anyone who wanted to join us for lunch, or when we went to the cantina after school on Fridays. Even the custodian, Angie, joined us.
“The group was fluid because everyone was welcome. Pam was invited, but she preferred opening her room so kids could eat there during lunch and she chose not to join us for happy hour.”
Sawyer picked up his phone. “Give me Yousef’s last name and phone number. I want to talk with him.”
“I don’t want Yousef bothered.”
“That’s not how this works.” Owen’s words were clipped. “Cops will talk to anyone with insight into what was going on with this woman. There’s a killer out there only a few degrees separated from you. There’s not a chance I’m letting them get any closer than that.”
She told herself not to read anything into his comment. She chewed her bottom lip as a memory surfaced.
“There was something at the holiday staff party in December. It was kind of pathetic more than anything else.” She had the attention of both men. “The party was at our principal’s house and I brought Jaxon. At the time, we’d only been dating a few weeks.
“Anyway, Pam was flirting with him. She’d worn this tight, lowcut dress and she was drinking. The evening progressed and she was drinking more. The drunker she got, the more aggressive a play she made for Jaxon.”
“Could be she was trying to make you jealous,” Sawyer suggested. “How did Jaxon respond?”
“I wasn’t jealous. Maybe that should’ve told me something about my lack of feelings for him. I could tell Jaxon was flattered by the attention. He was eating it up. But then when she wouldn’t leave him alone, I think he was embarrassed.”
“Do you know if they saw each other after that night?” Owen asked.
Keeley leaned back in her chair. She wanted to be helpful, but she also wanted to crawl back in bed and pretend this morning had never happened. And the cut on her forehead hurt. “I don’t think they did, but I can’t say for sure. Jaxon and I were dating, but didn’t see each other more than once a week or so. We were both busy.”
“You broke it off with him?” At Keeley’s nod, Owen continued, “Why?”
She shrugged. “We weren’t really clicking, and he was secretive about his work. The more I got to know him, the less I liked him. That was in February.”
