Soul Possession(14)

“Well your waitress is our prime suspect in the case. From what’s been gathered so far, I’d say this is going to be a slam dunk.”

“What the f**k?” Truitt demanded as he shoved in.

“She’s not at her apartment. I’ve already sent Jones to bring her in. You happen to know where to find her?” Bull asked.

Rick exchanged looks with Truitt. This was a clusterf*ck. No way they could pull this case now. Not if Jessie was mixed up in it. But at least they could clear her.

“Where’s the chief?” Rick asked. “He’s going to need to hear this.”

“On his way. Merriam Powell was an old friend of his. He’s pretty hot to trot to nail her killer to the wall.”

On cue Chief Markham strode into the office just as Jud Hennessee was pulling a sheet over Merriam’s head. Chief stopped Hennessee and carefully pulled the sheet back just enough to see Merriam’s blood-spattered face.

“Jesus,” the chief muttered. Then he got up and walked over to where Rick and Truitt stood with Bull.

“You got leads?” the chief demanded.

Bull nodded.

“I want the son of a bitch who did this,” the chief snarled.

“Look, Chief, we need to tell you something. It involves the primary suspect in this case. I don’t have all the facts. Bull was just about to fill me in. But Jessie Callahan couldn’t have murdered Merriam Powell because she was…she was home with me all night,” Rick finished tightly. “She was with Truitt and I. We just left her a few minutes ago.”

The chief snapped his gaze to Bull. “And this is your prime suspect?”

Bull stared hard at Rick and Truitt, in a way that pissed Rick off. Like he didn’t believe Rick or maybe he thought he’d even lie to protect Jessie.

“We have witnesses that place her here at the bar around five A.M., which is the estimated time of death,” Bull said.

“Bullshit,” Truitt said. “She was in bed with me.”

The chief raised one eyebrow. “I thought she was in bed with Rick. Make up your mind here.”

“She was in bed with both of us, okay?” Rick bit out. “It isn’t important who she was having sex with. What’s important is that she has an alibi.”

Bull crossed his arms over his chest. “What time did you leave the bar with her last night?”

“Are we being questioned?” Truitt challenged.

The chief held up his hands. “Outside, all of you.”

The four men walked outside the bar and over to the chief’s car. The chief leaned against his car and stared at Rick and Truitt and then at Bull.

“Let’s get this over with as quickly as possible. Answer Bull’s question. If she was with you then this will be resolved shortly but if you two are involved, we need to make this clean and by the book.”

“We left around eleven,” Rick said.

“And is that her usual time to get off?” Bull asked.

Truitt shook his head. “No, she usually closes. She hurt her knee though and said she could leave.”

“Well here’s what I know,” Bull said quietly. “She was fired from her job last night. I have two witnesses plus an entry in Merriam’s business journal stating that Jessie was suspected of stealing money and Merriam let her go. That was at approximately 10:45. Witnesses also heard Jessie threaten her. Now you say she left with you at eleven. Did she say anything about losing her job?”

A sick ball formed in Rick’s stomach. He glanced at Truitt who looked a little shell-shocked himself.

“No,” Truitt muttered. “She said she had to be in tonight because they were going to be shorthanded. She told us that just a little while ago.”

“Okay now. How sure are you of her whereabouts at five this morning?” Bull continued.

Rick swallowed. “I didn’t wake up until close to seven. She was in the kitchen cooking.”

Truitt nodded. “Yeah, I was up just a few minutes earlier. We were asleep by three.”

“What exactly is your relationship with Miss Callahan?” the chief interjected. “How long have you known her?”

Rick didn’t like the direction this was heading and that ball was getting bigger in his gut.

“A few weeks. We’d come in, have a few drinks. Flirt. Proposition her.”

“And did she ever take you up on your offer?” Bull asked.

Truitt shook his head. “Not until last night.”

“Did she know you were cops?” the chief interjected.

Rick nodded. “Yeah. She knew. It wasn’t a secret.”

Bull and the chief fell silent a long moment. Truitt looked a little green. Then he muttered, “No way. I don’t care how it looks. She didn’t do this. She’s so damn…sweet.”

Rick dragged a hand through his hair and looked away. He was feeling like a fool and he didn’t like that feeling at all. Had they been taken in by a pair of big brown eyes?

“Did it occur to you that she seized an opportunity to give herself an alibi?” the chief asked quietly. “She gets fired, gets pissed at her boss, sees a way to get revenge, and have an airtight alibi? I mean who’s going to doubt the word of two detectives when they say she was home all night with them in their bed?”