Firebreak (Josie Gray Mysteries #4)(78)

Josie tried to keep the shock from her expression. It was a side of Billy she would never have expected.

Otto continued the questioning. “Why did he go back if Ferris was already dead?”

“He told me he wanted to make it look like Ferris overdosed on heroin and died in the fire. He wanted to make sure the house burned from the wildfire. He wanted Ferris’s death to look accidental, and in his mind, the fire was the solution.” Hank considered Josie for a minute. “You have to know Billy. People have this image of him as a tough guy, but he wasn’t. He was sad and confused. He told me once that every time he got on stage he worried somebody in the crowd would point him out as a fake. Bands like the Calloway Boys unstrung Billy. He knew that musically they were better than him, and it ate him up inside. Then Ferris came along and really screwed him over. His life just got all out of whack.”

“So when Billy called you drunk the other night and asked you to bring pills?”

“I did what he asked me to do. He wanted to end the mess he’d made of his life. I did what a true friend would do. I helped him end his misery.” Hank paused and stared at Josie. His expression was frustrated, as if he wanted her to understand his reasoning. When Josie didn’t respond he continued.

“Billy’s whole life was unraveling. He called me earlier that night when I was working at the bar. Check his phone records. He said he needed something to get him through the next few days. I bought a bag of pills from a girl at the bar. I wasn’t even planning on giving them to him unless he called again. When he called from the park I went over there to talk to him and he told me everything. He’d screwed up Brenda’s life, Ferris was dead, he was convinced he had HIV and he would destroy his band’s chance of making it to Nashville. He’d be back working at the sewage-treatment plant as a pariah. The hometown hero who exploded into pieces and hurt everyone else around him.”

“Why didn’t you stop Billy? Try to get him some help?”

Hank put a hand to his forehead and laughed. He finally looked at Josie, his expression incredulous. “Are you not listening to me? He wasn’t worried about helping himself. He was worried about cleaning up the mess he’d made of everyone else’s life. This was the only way he could make things right for Brenda. The only way that he could show her that he still loved her and cared about her. With him and Ferris gone from her life, Brenda could reconnect with her family and move back to Nashville. Manage some other country singer. Hopefully find happiness again someday.”

Josie listened to Hank’s explanation and wondered if Hank truly bought into Billy’s delusional reasoning.

“Why didn’t you tell us this before?” Otto asked.

“What, so you could call me a murderer? Look. Billy was a friend. He asked me for the ultimate act of friendship, and I gave it. I don’t expect you to understand that, but that’s how I see it.”

Josie told Hank that they needed to make a phone call, and she and Otto left the interrogation room. She opened the door that led into the observation room so she and Otto could talk.

Josie took the seat across from him and saw his angry expression. He’d disguised it well in front of Hank.

“We have two dead bodies and no charges to file,” he said.

“Withholding information. Buying prescription pills. That’s about it.”

Otto’s face was flushed red in anger. “It’s manslaughter in my book. Or at least assisted suicide, and that’s illegal in the state of Texas.”

“We don’t prosecute the guy who sells the gun or a knife to the person who shoots himself or slashes his wrist. No prosecutor would take this on. Billy drank the whiskey and popped the pills. Cowan stated suicide in the autopsy.”

Otto muttered something and looked down at the floor. He seemed ready to let it drop, so Josie changed subjects.

“Is Brenda here?” she asked.

Otto nodded. “She’s in the sheriff’s conference room. Turner may have left. She said she’d give us fifteen minutes and then she was leaving. We better get in there before we lose her for sure.”

“You ready?” she asked.

“Let’s do it.”

*

They found Brenda and Turner sitting next to each other at the conference table. The nondescript room had bright white walls and a dozen chairs around a large conference table. The room was used by the sheriff for department trainings and for interrogations when the other rooms at the jail were full. When Josie and Otto entered, Brenda and Turner both became quiet.

“A little courtesy with the scheduling would have been nice, Chief. Next time, call me when you’re ready,” Turner said.

Josie ignored her comment and thanked the women for coming. She started her digital recorder with no additional complaints from Turner.

“We’ve gathered quite a bit of information over the past twenty-four hours,” Josie said. “Hank Wild admitted to giving Billy the pills that he combined with the whiskey to commit suicide.”

Brenda’s expression changed from anticipation to confusion. “I don’t believe that.”

“He admitted it. We know who he bought the pills from. And a witness identified his truck at the park the night Billy died.”

Her mouth fell open and she appeared unable to speak.

Josie chose a soft tone for the harsh words she was about to deliver. “I think you know why Billy committed suicide.”