Reed Family Box Set Page 3

  God, I don’t know what to do? I still love him, but I feel like my marriage is over.

  ***

  Friday, August 21 at 10:30 a.m.

  For the second night in a row, Jo barely slept. With great effort, she pulled herself out of bed. She hadn’t worked out at the gym in two days. To add more insult to her weary body, on the way to work she purchased two jelly donuts from Dunkin Donuts along with black coffee. Jo couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten donuts.

  When she arrived at work she ignored Pete’s wide eyes. Without fail, Pete had a Hardee’s steak and egg biscuit on his desk. A true southerner, Pete believed in a hearty breakfast, and usually ridiculed Jo about her fruit and granola bars.

  “No quinoa and flax seed this morning, kid?”

  Jo glared at him and bit into the jelly donut. She savored the sweet jelly, licking her fingers. She’d sat at her desk all morning reviewing her notes. The property manager at the apartment complex didn’t recognize the victim, but he said people came and went as their leases expired so it was hard to keep track. The victim could have been carried either from an apartment or transferred by a car. Either way, it would have taken some effort to get the body, wrapped in a rug, down into the woodsy area.

  She didn’t know why, but Jo couldn’t help but compare the crime scene to Maddock’s victims. All of the women were found in their homes. It was obvious each of the women knew their killer because there were no signs of forced entry. Very different crime scenes. She was feeling less anxious than she had been yesterday about this case affecting Maddock’s trial.

  Jo pushed her chair away from the desk and lifted her arms above her head to stretch. It was time for more coffee. Her morning sugar rush had faded. She wasn’t trying to drink the sludge already sitting in the coffee pot so she started a fresh brew.

  “Now that’s what I’m talking about. Fresh coffee. You’re a saint, Jo.”

  Jo turned around to laugh. “I wish. I wasn’t trying to drink that mess people around here call coffee.”

  Detective Darnell Jackson placed his mug on the counter. “You’re smart, too!”

  Jo couldn’t help but feel a little bit of Darnell’s joy. “You are still acting like a newlywed. How long has it been?”

  Darnell grinned, “Seems longer, but Candace and I have been married almost two years.”

  Jo smiled. “I’m happy for you both. It’s good to keep that glow.”

  “Oh I plan too. This is a second marriage for both of us. Candace and I want it to be the last one. You know? Until death do us part thing. Hey, you know I’m glad I ran into you today. We’re starting the basketball teams up at Victory Gospel. You think Bryan wants to join us again this year?”

  Jo felt her jaw twitch as she struggled to keep smiling. “He might. I’ll ask him about it.” Jo turned to pick up the pot. “Coffee’s ready.”

  Darnell held up his mug as Jo poured. “Thanks, Jo. I hear Maddock is finally going to get his day in court soon.”

  Happy Darnell changed the subject, Jo poured coffee into her cup. “Yep. We provided solid evidence, so the D.A. should be able to convince the jury to do the right thing. Besides, I don’t think the defense has much of a case.”

  Darnell sipped his coffee. “Maddock didn’t confess, but anyone can tell he’s guilty. You and Pete did a good job getting that guy. He’s a real piece of work. Thanks again for the fresh coffee. Please don’t forget to ask Bryan about coaching. We could use his help.”

  Jo nodded, feeling a knot form in her stomach as Darnell walked away. Does Bryan have any idea what he’s done? If their marriage fell apart, there would be rippling effects. Victory Gospel was the Reeds’ family home church.

  On her way back to her desk with her refilled coffee mug, she saw Pete walking towards her holding something in his hand.

  “We may have an I.D. for our girl.”

  Jo sat her coffee mug down on her desk. “Really? How? Who is she?”

  Pete held out his hands. “Whoa, slow down. You are going to want to take this in nice an easy.” He passed a photo to Jo. “First, here she is.”

  Jo grasped the photo. She immediately recognized the young woman to be their victim. Not only did she have a beauty queen smile, but the woman had been a participant in some type of pageant. She was wearing a tiara and had a bright pink sequined dash across her pale pink gown. Her blue eyes sparkled.

  This woman was certainly Maddock’s type, Jo thought. “What’s her name?”

  Pete cleared his throat before he responded. “Laura. Laura Finney.”

  Jo stared at Pete. “Finney? She wouldn’t be related to...?”

  Pete crossed his arms and nodded. “Senator Morris Finney.”

  “You have got to be kidding me?” Jo felt nauseous. She probably shouldn’t have eaten those two jelly donuts.

  “I wish I was. Her mother called to say their daughter was missing this morning. Police chief put Captain on red alert. The captain was the one who came to me with that photo. The parents will be heading to the morgue soon to confirm.”

  Jo rubbed her forehead. “I’m glad we may know who she is now. We can start narrowing down her schedule and talk to people who knew about her plans on Tuesday night. Remember Senator Finney is not a fan of this department. I should know. That guy worked with the mayor to force my dad to retire. He’ll make this investigation more difficult.”

  “I know. I talked to the captain. He agreed we need to keep a lid on some of the details and move at lightning speed as soon as we have confirmation. Come on. Let’s head over to the morgue, so we can talk to the Finneys.”

  Jo and Pete arrived in time to watch the Finneys walk in with Lou. Based on the wail that ripped from Mrs. Finney a few minutes later, it appeared their victim was Laura Finney. They waited for a few minutes before approaching the grieving parents. Senator Finney was a man who enjoyed public service and liked the spotlight. Right now as he held his wife, Jo recognized grief and a smoldering anger behind the man’s blue eyes.

  Pete led the conversation, “Senator and Mrs. Finney, we’re sorry about your loss. I’m Detective McConnelly and this is Detective Reed-Powell. We hoped to ask you a few questions.”

  Jo jumped right into the first question, “Any idea who Laura could have been with on Tuesday evening?”

  Mrs. Finney lifted her tear-stained face. Probably in her late forties or early fifties, she was still a beauty herself. “She said she was going out with friends. She was supposed to head back to Duke this weekend and wanted to spend time with her high school friends. They are all going into their senior year of college.”

  Jo hadn’t realized the victim was that young. She made a mental note that Maddock’s victims were in their late twenties and were established career women. She asked, “Can you give us names?”

  Senator Finney frowned, not looking at Jo, he stated, “None of my daughter’s friends would harm her.”

  Puzzled, Jo looked at Pete before responding to the senator. “Her friends may know someone Laura was seeing that you didn’t know.”

  Mrs. Finney yelped, “Laura’s engaged. Her fiancé adores her.”

  Senator Finney gripped his wife’s arm. “Where did you find her?”

  Jo noticed the senator addressed his questions mainly to Pete as though he didn’t want to acknowledge her. She wondered if he recognized her name, Reed. Jo did look like her father.

  Pete cleared his throat. “We can’t share too many details, Senator. However, the evidence, so far, points to the crime scene being different from where she was found. Any help you can give to help us to pinpoint her whereabouts on Tuesday evening would be appreciated.”

  Jo added, “We want to find the person responsible as soon as possible.”

  The family was grieving and maybe they needed time to process their daughter’s death. But something didn’t feel right to Jo. Her parents were already on the defensive, which meant there was a lot more to find out about former beauty queen and college student, Laura Fin
ney.

  Chapter 5

  Saturday, August 22 at 9:30 a.m.

  Jo stopped by her parents’ Saturday morning to spend time with B.J. Her parents were having a barbecue, but Jo planned to work for a few hours. They needed to make some progress on the case since they had only identified Laura Finney yesterday. B.J. was still wearing his Spider-Man pajamas and finishing up a bowl of Cheerios. “Mommy, where’s Daddy and when can I come home?”

  “I’m picking you up this afternoon. Didn’t Daddy call you?”

  B.J. nodded. “I talked to Daddy last night. He said he was away on business, but he didn’t say when he would be back.”

  Jo had doubts about the business part. “I’m sure Daddy will be back soon, honey.”

  Her mother walked up to the kitchen table and picked up the breakfast dishes. “B.J., Uncle Cori will be here soon. I just talked to him. Your Aunt Asia and Aunt Toni will be here later too.”

  “Yay!” B.J. asked, “What about Uncle Jax?”

  Jo looked at her mother. It had been awhile since she’d seen her half-brother.

  Jo’s mother placed the dishes in the sink and turned around. “I believe Grandpa called Jackson, but I’m not sure if he will drive up from Atlanta or not. Now B.J., go see if Grandpa needs help.”

  “Okay!”

  After B.J. ran from the kitchen, her mother looked at Jo. “You’re not going to work too long today, are you? You have been pulling a lot of hours this week.”

  “I’ll be back in time for the feast. So Bryan called?”

  Her mother nodded. “Bryan called here last night to talk to B.J. I did mention the barbecue today. Your dad does it every summer around this time especially since you and Bryan have been doing the 4th of July the past two years. It just came out. I can tell he felt awkward. Have you two talked?”

  “He had an affair and left the house. Kind of hard to just talk.”

  “Well, you both need to talk at some point even if you need a third party. Marriage counseling can be arranged at the church. The longer you don’t deal with the root issues, the harder it will be to save the marriage. That’s if you want to save it.”

  Her mother looked at her with concern. “I know how you feel, Jo. Believe me. I also know how you will let your anger override reasoning. I don’t want you to do anything you’d regret. These situations can wreck a person mentally. Have you been praying?”

  “I’m trying. I get angry and then end up feeling guilty as if I did something wrong.”

  “You’re not the blame for Bryan’s choices.”

  “I know that, but last year was a difficult time. I hoped it would get better after we arrested Maddock. I’ve been guilty of forgetting to pick up B.J. a few times myself.”

  Vanessa glared at Jo. “Please consider what I said. You do need to work on what to do next. Just wallowing in anger and guilt is what’s going to eat you both alive, Jo. It’s not going to help B.J., who’s going to end up being in the middle of two very bitter people.”

  Jo looked at the time on her phone. “I know, I know. Look I have to go. Pete and I need to touch base with the Finneys. We were urged to give them space yesterday, but we have lost so much time already on this case.”

  Her mother grimaced. “I don’t like the man, but I’m sorry about his daughter. The captain couldn’t assign this to someone else?”

  “Mama, it was already my case. I’m going to see this through. It’s what I do.”

  “I know. I do hope you find who did this to their daughter.”

  “Me too.”

  As Jo drove out to the Finneys’ home she couldn’t help but think about how much she didn’t like the senator. No one in the Reed family had much love for Senator Finney. With a blanket statement, he had ended Justice Reed’s career as police.

  He has no control and has let officers disgrace our city and state.

  Even after her father fired the cops involved in the shooting death of the young man, Senator Finney used the incident to secure his third term in office by calling for her dad’s resignation and making way for a clean sweep of change in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Her dad retired a month before the election.

  Still, Jo would treat this case as any of her other cases. She wanted justice served even for the senator.

  ***

  Saturday, August 22 at 11:07 a.m.

  Jo and Pete approached the front door together. A Hispanic woman who appeared to be in her thirties answered the door. She led them to a sitting area, where Mrs. Finney sat alone. Dressed only in a large white robe, Mrs. Finney held a china teacup in her lap as she stared out of a bay window that faced a garden outdoors. Mrs. Finney turned to look at them as they approached. Her eyes looked vacant.

  “Mrs. Finney, thank you for letting us view Laura’s room,” Jo said. “Did you think of anything else about Tuesday? Anything unusual?”

  Mrs. Finney shook her head as if to shake away her thoughts. With a deep sigh she leaned forward and placed her teacup on the table. “Laura was excited to go out with her friends. I remember she couldn’t decide on what outfit to wear. She left a mess in her closet as usual.”

  Jo thought about how Laura left the house. “Did Laura drive her car?”

  Mrs. Finney shook her head. “No, one of the girls picked her up. Her car is outside.”

  Pete asked, “You mind if I check out her car?”

  Jo added, “I would like to see Laura’s room.” Mrs. Finney led Jo up the stairs to Laura’s bedroom. When Mrs. Finney opened the door, Jo could tell it was a room that had grown with Laura. As she stepped inside, she could almost imagine when the walls were probably painted some pastel color with stuffed animals on the bed. The room she stood in now was still girly, but more sophisticated for a young woman. Fuchsia and brown squares covered the back of the queen-size bed, while two walls were painted a solid fuchsia and one wall a solid brown.

  It was bold and funky. Jo would have chosen similar colors if she had a girl. At twenty-one years old, Laura may have outgrown her teenage posters, because there were none on the wall. There were a variety of photos of Laura, some of her as cheerleader, at a dance recital and when she was a little girl. All types of trophies and tiaras lined one wall on shelves.

  Mrs. Finney spoke from the doorway. “It’s just how she left it.”

  Jo was so engrossed in studying the room, she forgot the woman was behind her. “Laura accomplished a lot. Do you mind if I look around alone? I’ll try not to disturb much.”

  Mrs. Finney turned slowly as if she didn’t want to leave. She grabbed the door handle and closed the door behind her.

  Jo sighed deeply. She didn’t like looking through someone’s personal space after they died, but it was a way to find clues. They didn’t have many leads on what happened until they could talk to Laura’s friends and her fiancé. Jo decided to start with what would have the most information about Laura. She sat at the desk and flipped open the pink paisley covered laptop. There was no login on the screen after the laptop booted.

  The wallpaper showed Laura with a young man. Jo observed the blond young man. The striking couple resembled a real-life Ken and Barbie. She clicked on Laura’s email and scrolled through her inbox. There was nothing that struck Jo as unusual from the subject lines. She snapped the laptop closed and decided to take the laptop to a tech to examine the email. She wanted to take a better look at the bedroom.

  Jo slid open a door that revealed a walk-in closet. Indeed, Laura had a difficult time choosing what to wear. Several dresses lay on an ottoman in the middle of the closet. All types of shoes lined one wall. One pair of shoes caught Jo’s eyes because they were on the floor next to the ottoman. The sling back sandals had an even higher heel than the one heel Laura was found wearing.

  She walked out of the closet over to the vanity table. Makeup and costume jewelry lay out in the open. It was probably just Jo, because she was more of a plain Jane, but it felt to her like Laura had gone through a lot of trouble to get dressed up on
Tuesday evening. Did Laura’s friends also go through this much trouble? Jo looked forward to meeting them.

  Something sparkled from one of the drawers of an open wooden jewelry box. Jo frowned as she pulled the drawer out. She reached inside and lifted out a one carat diamond ring. Is this Laura’s engagement ring?

  Laura was supposedly out with friends but where was her fiancé? It seemed strange to Jo that Laura would leave home without her engagement ring. An engagement ring was meant to flaunt, especially one like this. She wondered how Laura’s fiancé would have reacted if he saw Laura without the ring on her finger.

  Chapter 6

  Saturday, August 22 at 5:35 pm

  “Alright, kid. I’m going to enjoy what weekend I have left. You should do the same.” Pete placed his Carolina Panthers hat on his head. “My lady isn’t too happy with me.”

  Jo looked at her phone, checking the time. Her family probably had already started the festivities. She looked at Pete. “This job isn’t easy on relationships.”

  Pete grinned. “I should know. Wife number one and two still remind me. My three kids don’t have much to say to me most of the year unless they’re short on cash, of course.”

  Jo tilted her head in sympathy. “But you’ve met the right woman this time, right?”

  “I’ll find out soon enough. All I can do is try. I don’t like being alone. You need to be getting along too. No need to keep Bryan waiting.”

  Jo bit her lip. She hadn’t shared her predicament at home yet. “Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Pete.”

  After Pete left, Jo turned her attention back to the evidence board. There were too many loose ends and not many leads. She looked at the photos of footprints that were around the body. Since it had rained softly on Monday, the shaded ground around Laura’s body was still soft. She hoped CSI would be able to share a lead about the type of shoe that made the footprint. Jo thought the thread looked like a sneaker.