What Have You Done(60)

“I have no idea,” Don replied. “I’m thinking this might be for the best. Bring him in now, and end this before someone else gets hurt. Do you have any idea where he might be?”

“None.”

“You think it’s time to tell them about what we found at Kerri’s apartment?”

Sean shook his head. “I just told the lieutenant I’d never seen Kerri before. Ever. I suggest you do the same until we can find Liam and bring him in the right way. Let’s get him in, and then we can figure out what to do next. If I can’t buy him time, I can at least bring him in on my terms.”

Heckle and Keenan burst through the doors of the control room. “You got some balls interfering with our investigation,” Keenan cried.

A few of the men turned to see what was going on.

“What are you talking about?” Sean replied.

Keenan’s face was red. His anger made him seem even larger than he already was. “You show up at our homicide with some excuse about maybe you knew the victim, and it turns out you’re running your own investigation behind our backs to protect your brother.” He held up a small business card. “Went back to the Miller girl’s friends to see if they recognized Liam’s picture, and they show me Don’s business card and tell me he was around their house a couple of days ago asking questions. What the hell is that?”

Before Don could respond, Sean took Keenan by the arm. “Let’s go.”

The group of men walked down the hall and into one of the empty interrogation rooms. Sean went next door to the observation room behind the one-way glass and turned off the microphone. When he returned, he shut the door and stood against it.

“You gonna confess something?” Heckle asked. “Maybe we should be recording this.”

“Shut up,” Sean snapped. “I’m going to level with you guys, but I need this to stay here. Cop to cop. This is between us. Deal?”

Keenan dropped Don’s card on the table. “Go.”

“I knew about my brother’s affair with the victim. That’s why he called me to the Tiger that night. He’s my brother. I needed to find out what was going on before I turned him in. I had Don check on a few things for me while I tried to figure out what was happening. At first we thought Liam was being framed. I couldn’t tell you because I was hoping either you would find the perp, or this would get filed unsolved and I could figure things out on my own. And if it was Liam, I could get him some help without anyone knowing. I was trying to protect him.”

The room was quiet for a moment.

“Jesus Christ,” Heckle muttered. “This is obstruction in the worst way, Sean. Guzio’s death is a direct result of you tampering with a homicide investigation.”

“I know, but he’s my brother. What am I supposed to do? And he’s a cop. We stick together when it comes to our own. I don’t have to tell you guys that. I had no idea he’d go after the hotel owner. I just needed to figure out if Liam killed Kerri or if he was being framed by someone else. That’s the story. All my cards are on the table.”

“Why would he kill the hotel owner now?” Keenan asked.

Sean shrugged. “Tying up loose ends, maybe? Might’ve thought the owner would recognize him? I’m not sure.”

“Or maybe he just snapped.”

“Could be.”

“Do you know where he is?” Heckle asked.

Sean shook his head. “I don’t. And that’s the truth.”

“How do we know you’re not lying again?”

“What’s there left to lie about? Everyone knows my brother killed Kerri Miller and the hotel owner. At this point, I want to bring him in and get him help. No more lies when it comes to the four of us. But this stays between the four of us. I just got out of a meeting convincing Phillips I didn’t know Kerri and was unaware of Liam’s affair. Phillips made me write and sign a statement. I gotta be on the inside to bring him in the right way. If he knows I knew her, he’ll bump me from tracking Liam. Don’t dime me out now.”

Keenan hopped off the table and rubbed his hands together. He took a deep breath. “Okay,” he whispered. “We’re good. This stays here. But we know what you know from now on. Got it?”

“Agreed.”

“I’m serious. If we find out we’re out of the loop, we go to IA with everything you just told us, and you can share a cell with your brother.”

“Okay.”

Someone knocked on the door, and Sean opened it. It was a uniformed officer.

“They traced Liam’s GPS on his cell phone. He’s near Boathouse Row. They’re rolling units now.”

Heckle and Keenan filed out of the interrogation room. Before Don could follow, Sean grabbed him and pulled him back inside.

“What?” Don asked.

“You went to the friend’s house?”

“Yeah. When you guys started investigating me, I thought it was only prudent to clear my name. I took a ride to the friend’s house and asked some questions. I needed to hear what happened that night from their lips instead of reading it in a file. I needed to see the expressions on their faces.”

“You never mentioned that to me.”

“I know the feeling.”

“Anything else I should know? Anywhere else you’ve been without telling me?”