friend?”
“Detective, you probably won’t understand this… and I mean it from my heart. I wanted to protect Tanis.”
“From what?”
“Bad experiences, life, bad people. She had done so much for the rest of us and I wanted to make sure that she was happy and at least had a chance—more than the rest of us.”
“Ms. Harlan, are you aware that your sister was murdered? And her body was found last week at Elm Hill Mansion?”
“Yes,” she said shakily, holding back the tears.
“When was the last time you saw her?”
“It had been a while. A few months… I don’t know…” She sniffled and wiped tears from her eyes.
“Do you know who would have wanted to kill her?”
“It wasn’t her. It was me.”
“What are you saying? That whoever killed your sister Carol meant to kill you?”
“I got in with some bad people, gambling, escort service, that sort of thing. They don’t like it when people want to leave. I’ve been looking over my shoulder every day since. And then… and then…”
“I see. Where were these bad people?”
“Sacramento.”
Katie had first been a patrol officer for two years at Sacramento PD and she was aware of some of these nefarious gangs. She made a few more notes. “Any names?”
“I don’t know their real names.”
Katie turned around in her seat because she wanted to see Candace’s face when she asked the next question. “Why did you try to kill me and my partner?”
“I didn’t.”
“I saw you, well, not your face, but I saw you standing there and shutting the door to the container.”
There was a knock at the window. McGaven stood there waiting as he made a hand gesture for her to come out.
“I’ll be right back,” said Katie as she got out of the vehicle, immediately regretting it with the cold air piercing her body. Shutting the door quickly, she said, “What’s up?”
“I just wanted to let you know that we’ve looked over the cameras and it was definitely Candace Harlan.” Katie saw John walk from the trail carrying cameras.
“Was there anyone else?” she asked.
“Nope, just her.”
Katie made a frown and bit her lip.
“What?” he said.
“I’ll fill you in on everything later, but for now, check out…” she said and retrieved a piece of paper from her notebook. “Do a check on Ray Conner, early- to mid-thirties. Businessman. Not sure of profession.”
“Who’s this?”
“This is Candace’s Ray—the one she ran away with that night. According to her, she dumped him three months later and took off to LA.”
He took the notes. “On it.” He looked at Katie with a questioning expression.
“I’m fine, really. I’ll see you in the office tomorrow. Don’t worry about tonight’s report—I’ll take care of it.”
McGaven’s face looked relieved, so he smiled and started walking away. “See you then.”
Katie returned the smile. Then she saw John loading up the surveillance equipment and thought for a moment she needed to talk to him, but that would have to wait. He turned and looked at her, his somber expression difficult to read, but he smiled at her with a gentle nod.
Katie opened the patrol passenger door again and slipped back inside to the welcoming heater.
Candace burst out, “I didn’t try to kill you and your partner.”
“Why were you following me?”
“I… I wanted to make sure that Carol’s murder would be solved. And… I’ve been terrified that whoever killed her is coming after me, so I followed you on the investigation to make sure. I had a car for a while.”
“Why did you shut the door on us?” Katie persisted.
“I just wanted to give myself time to get away. I knew one of these times that you would catch me.”
“So who was driving the bulldozer? Who was your partner?”
“I don’t understand. Partner?”
“Who were you working with?”
“No one.”
“So you mean to tell me that ‘no one’ tried to push the metal container off a cliff with me and my partner in it?”
“I’m telling you no one was helping me. I just put a stick in the lock, I figured you’d be able to escape within minutes, but it gave me enough time to get away.”
“So you didn’t start the bulldozer?”
“What? I don’t know anything about bulldozers. I just wanted to slow you down, not kill you. Why would I want to do that?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Katie said.
Candace leaned forward. “I’m telling you the truth. I didn’t lock you in the storage container. I swear, I’m telling the truth.”
“Who was there with you?”
“No one, I left as fast as I could.”
Another knock tapped at