Cooper's Deale Part 17

The door down the hall opened and Liberty headed their way.

"Please excuse us," she said. "I need to speak to Addy alone."

"Addy, don't talk to her without your lawyer," Fern said, letting go of Addy's hand. "She's shifty and untruthful. I didn't like her from the start."

"Thank you, Fern, but I'll be all right. You'd better leave now. Please let me know how Tommy is doing."

Liberty smiled. "Good evening to you, Miss Bush, Mr. Velasquez."

"Well, I never." Fern cast a disdainful glance at Liberty. "I have packed up your belongings, Miss McDonald, and deposited them in the front hall. You are no longer welcome in our home."

She took Chauncey's arm in hers and stomped out.

Addy stared at her. "Are you here to gloat, Liberty, or were you looking for some recreational s.e.x?"

"Tell her, sister," the blonde called. "Can't trust cops."

"You're right about that."

"Taking advice from drunks now, Addy?"

"I trust her more than I trust you."

"We've gotta stick together," the drunk said.

Liberty turned to the other cell. "Shut up or I'll see to it that you spend extra time drying out in there."

The blonde made an obscene gesture with her finger, but kept quiet.

"Why don't you tell me what you're up to," Liberty coaxed. "There's no point in keeping it a secret any longer."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I've told you and the others, I don't know anything about that reporter or about any radioactivity. Neither does Tommy. How many more times can I say it?"

"Until you tell me what I want to hear." Liberty's face turned ugly and she stepped closer to the bars. "You said before that you didn't know anything about it, which wasn't true. You and Tommy are the only possibilities and the only suspects. And the camera in your possession is the clincher. Now where is the film?"

Addy stared at her. "There's no film in the camera?"

"You know there wasn't. Where is it?"

Addy sat wearily on the cot and dropped her head to her hands. The film could have possibly exonerated her and Tommy, but now even that hope was gone.

"I don't know."

"Hah. The film contains incriminating evidence against you, and you've destroyed it. But you know what? It doesn't matter. I'm confident we can convict without it." Liberty stepped away from the bars. "In the morning, I plan to ask the judge to deny bail. I'll say you pose a possible flight risk and keep you here until you confess."

She walked away with loud steps, but Addy didn't look up.

Holding her throbbing head and ma.s.saging her temples didn't help. The evidence did seem to point her way, but surely no one would believe it. How long could they keep her here? What must Tommy be going through? She had failed him, and failed her grandmother's trust in her. She was in the worst situation of her life with no one to rely on.

"Don't suppose you'd want to share a piece of that nut bread," the blonde said. "The food in here is garbage."

Addy cut the loaf in half, but before she hit bottom, her fork struck something metallic. Curious, she dug into the bread and extracted a fingernail file. Fern was a big fan of old black-and-white movies, but the file would only be useful for a manicure.

Karen climbed the old oak, and as she waited for the door to open, she noticed that Dale and his a.s.sociate would completely finish the house soon. But poor Addy might not be here to see it.

The door swung open and Jeff Olson meandered past, a glob of peanut b.u.t.ter stuck to the corner of his mouth. For a moment, she panicked.

"Is Tommy here?"

Jeff looked at her quizzically. "aCourse. Where else would he be?"

Karen sighed and went inside. Tommy sat at the table eating a PB and J sandwich. His face brightened.

"You want a sandwich? Jeff made them. He's a really good cook."

Karen smiled. "I'm sure he is, but no thanks. I need to talk with Tommy, Jeff. Alone."

"Okay. You gonna ask him about the dead guy?"

"Yes." Karen cringed. Kids were so blunt about such things, probably from so much television, where death and mayhem were an everyday occurrence.

"I'll go help my brother. Maybe I can get some extra money to buy that new Doctor Doom comic." Jeff walked out on the deck, but before closing the door, he stuck his head back in. "Oh, and don't forget to ask Officer Kaczarowski how to work that camera, Tommy. She knows all about that kind of stuff."

He closed the door and Karen stood motionless. "What camera?"

Tommy avoided her gaze, but she took his shoulders.

"What camera is Jeff talking about? This is important, Tommy. Please, tell me."

Tommy toyed with his sandwich, seeming lost in thought. "I found a camera."

Karen sat down at the table and pushed his plate out of reach.

"Where? Where did you find it?"

"I know I was supposed to give it back," Tommy whined. "It didn't belong to me, but I was only playing with it."

"It's okay. What did you do with the camera, Tommy? Where is it now?"

"I hid it in Grandma's closet, with all the other stuff. I didn't think anybody would find it there."

Karen leaned back slowly in her chair, her mind racing.

Addy didn't know anything about the camera after all. It still took Karen some time to realize that Tommy came and went at will, leaving his tree house when everyone continued to believe he didn't. Until she adjusted to that reality, she would continue to underestimate him.

"Am I in trouble?" Tommy asked mournfully.

"No, but it's really important that you tell the truth. I need to know everything so I can help Addy."

"When is Addy coming home? Is she going away again for a long time like before?" Tommy's eyes filled with tears and his lower lip trembled.

Karen didn't want to worry him, but she also needed to prepare him just in case.

"I'm trying to help Addy, Tommy. If you tell me the truth about the man you found, I can. Now tell me exactly what happened that night."

It was late when Karen entered the county jail and headed toward Addy's cell. She was tired, but she needed to ease Addy's mind about the camera.

"Oh, Tommy," Addy said when she'd heard the whole story.

"He couldn't have known what he was doing."

"Probably not. But it still looks bad for him. The DA could make a case that Tommy wanted the camera and killed Vinson for it."

"That's absurd."

"I know, but until we find out what's going on, the circ.u.mstantial evidence is overwhelming."

Addy reached through the bars and gripped Karen's hands.

"You can't let them take Tommy away for something he didn't do. Please."

Karen took Addy's hands and brought them to her lips, kissing them lightly. Holding Addy's gaze, she tried to strengthen her and convince her that she was on her side.

"I'll do everything I can, I promise."

Tears slowly ran down Addy's cheeks as she pressed the side of her face to the bars. "I don't know what I'd do without you. Thank you. I'm sorry I wasted so many years holding a grudge."

Karen continued to clasp Addy's hands, wishing she could put her arms around her and tell her she wouldn't let anything bad happen to either her or Tommy. But she couldn't do that until she could discover the true culprits. Each time she learned something new about the crime, the evidence seemed to point at the Coopers.

Who else could be responsible, not only for Vinson's death, but for the environmental angle? She dismissed Fern and Chauncey outright, but who did that leave?

"Hey, isn't it against the law to fraternize with the prisoners?"

The blond alcoholic had sobered during the day and become increasingly cantankerous.

"You've got me as a witness, honey. I'll swear the deputy was hara.s.sing you."

Addy suppressed a grin but didn't release Karen's hands.

Even if she was let out of jail, she wouldn't know how to repudiate the accusations against her and Tommy. She gazed into Karen's steady blue eyes and wished that the thick, solid bars of her cell would miraculously disappear.

"I'd better go," Karen said hoa.r.s.ely.

Addy could only nod, and slowly Karen removed her hands and stepped away. For a moment, Addy almost asked her to stay, but finally Karen turned her back and was gone.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

"Holy s.h.i.t," Frank muttered.

Abel looked up from his corn flakes at Frank, who was reading the newspaper. His face had turned deathly pale, and Abel knew it couldn't be good news. Frank jumped up from the kitchen table and rushed to his office, shouting commands at him and Clarence.

"We've got to dump this stuff now."

Abel followed him nervously. "What's going on, Frank?"

Frank began tossing equipment and wires into a duffel bag.

"The cops found a camera in the Cooper house. They think it belongs to the reporter."

Abel's heart skipped a lot of beats and his spoon froze in midair. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"f.u.c.k." Clarence's eyes opened wide like a cartoon character's. "I'm outta here."

Clarence was about to run out of the room, but Frank grabbed him by the collar and growled, "Where the h.e.l.l do you think you're going?"

"That reporter took pictures of us. Where the h.e.l.l do you think I'm going? The cops could be pulling up any minute. I'm heading for Canada."

"Oh, well, that's a perfectly safe place to run to," Frank said, like he was mocking Clarence.

"Well, what are you gonna do, then?" Clarence acted like he was going to stick out his tongue at Frank.

"We don't know what the cops have, and I'm going to find out. Here." Frank handed him the duffel bag. "You and Abel take this and get rid of it. I'm driving to the courthouse to see what I can find out."

"Somebody could recognize you," Abel said. His brother was so brave.

"No one is going to be looking for me at the courthouse. If anything, they'll be headed here. You two take off and head for the boat, get rid of that stuff, and then lay low. I'll call you on your cell when I know something."

Clarence grabbed the duffel and headed out the door.

Abel followed him, but paused in the doorway. "Be careful, Frank."

He hurried down the porch steps to Clarence's waiting car, where Clarence spun out in the driveway and raced toward the highway, a trail of dust obscuring them from view. Frank smiled.

The kid had the camera all this time. He knew it. But it didn't make any sense. Then again, the kid was nuts. The Cooper boy didn't want to blackmail them. He was just hiding it. But he must have had the smarts to turn it over to the cops. d.a.m.n. Why hadn't he searched the tree house? It was too late now. He could get rid of the kid, but the film would put the noose around his neck anyway if the pictures showed what he was afraid they would-him building a dirty bomb.

He had to find out for sure. Glancing around the house one last time to make sure he hadn't missed anything, he grabbed his car keys and headed for town.

"Bail is set at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Next case."

Addy stood before the judge and cast a grateful look at Karen. If it hadn't been for Karen's testimony, and the fact that the judge was her cousin's wife, Addy would still be counting the water stains on the ceiling of her cell. After the bondsman posted Addy's bail, which Karen had co-signed, the judge dismissed her and they filed out of the courtroom, stepping quickly onto the sunny sidewalk.

She was free, and she felt so giddy she almost laughed.