Fatal Intent - Jamie Jeffries Page 0,79
affected her. She took a deep breath. “Please don’t concern yourself. I’ve lived with this for a long time, and I knew in my heart she was. Have you notified my father?”
“Your friend Lt. Wells volunteered to do that. Decent guy, Wells. I’ve known him for ten years, but I’ve never seen him take as deep an interest in a case that wasn’t his own.” From his expression, Watson meant that to be a question.
“We have a history, you could say,” she began. “But it’s a long one. Maybe another day. I need to pick up my boyfriend’s kids. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“I have another piece of news for you. Dawn Redbird was attacked in her dorm room last night or early this morning. I’m afraid she’s dead.”
Alex gave a small cry and fell back into her chair, clapping her hands over her mouth as tears started. “Oh no! Oh my God! Was it…”
“Yes. We found the tag, I can’t say where. It was definitely the Patriots. Alex, I’m so sorry.”
Alex gave him a hard stare, with tears still in her eyes. “I told you. I TOLD you! You could have been prevented this. Oh, poor Dawn. How… no, I don’t want to know.”
Alex felt like hitting the wall with her fist, or throwing something. She flung herself out of the chair and began to pace. “So when should I expect them to find me here? Or no, I can’t stay here, that would put the boys in danger.” She stopped and turned to Watson, her finger outstretched.
“I want those bastards stopped. It’s your job, damn it. Put them away. Put them fucking away.”
During the thirty seconds or so of her tirade, Watson remained seated, his head down. Now he stood. “I’m sorry, Alex. You’re right, and I won’t make excuses. We’re rounding them up, and this time we won’t let them go until the DA forces us to. We’ll find the ones responsible, and we’ll find out why. And you’ll be the first to know. Take care.”
When Watson had gone, Alex sat down and cried until it was time to leave to pick up the boys. Then she called the school and told the receptionist she wouldn’t be there today. She sent Dylan a text that something had come up and he’d need to pick up the boys. Ten minutes later, she was out the door and on her way to the Gila River reservation, to see Dawn’s parents. What had she done? If she hadn’t made it her business to make Dawn a story, the girl might still be alive. This was her fault.
THIRTY
Dylan’s cell phone was turned off while he was at work, but as soon as he left for the day, he turned it back on and checked for any messages from Alex, in case she needed him to pick up something from the grocery store. When he saw her text about picking up the boys, he assumed she’d received a call for an interview or something, since she’d been applying for jobs.
After picking up the boys and arriving home, Dylan waited awhile for her return, but when the regular dinnertime came and went, he ordered a pizza and sent her a text asking when she’d be home. Dylan only became alarmed when his text went without an answer and the pizza arrived, well after six p.m. with no sign of Alex.
Surely, any job interview would have been long past, wouldn’t it? He called the boys to the table and gave them each a slice of pizza, before going into the bedroom to make some calls. His first was to Paul, who told him the only thing he knew of was someone had confirmed the identity of his wife’s remains.
He told Dylan there would be a delay in releasing the remains, since the man who was in prison for life for her murder had demanded a new trial, claiming he hadn’t known the woman in question. The authorities didn’t expect that to take long, since the baby she carried was a match to his DNA. They’d like to know how that happened if he hadn’t known her.
Dylan made the appropriate remarks and then ended the call. It was interesting information, and he knew Alex would be relieved to have her hunch confirmed, but it didn’t explain her disappearance. Did it? Although it was after office hours for the lieutenant in charge of her case, Dylan decided to try to reach him.