Simon ran both of his hands back and forth through his hair. It was something he did when he was tired or stressed out.
He sat up and leaned back in the uncomfortable straight-backed chair and looked at the detective sitting across from him.
They were closed off in a small interrogation room, a rectangular table between them. The room was industrial and functional. The same kind you might see on all those true crime shows when the suspect is being questioned for hours on end.
The detective had told him his name, but at this point, Simon couldn’t remember it.
“Okay, so let’s go through it one more time, Mr. Fairchild. Can you tell me how you knew Cassandra Hinton?”
“I met her when I was stationed in Okinawa, Japan for several years.”
“You’re in the military?”
They had this information.
Detective what’s-his-name sounded surprised, but they had this information already. Simon had identified himself as a member of the United States Air Force when he’d made the call to the tip line the other night. And the officers who’d arrested him had addressed him as Major when they showed up at the door.
The head games.
That’s what Simon hated most.
“I’m a Major in the United States Air Force.”
“Thank you for your service, sir.”
Simon nodded. “Thank you for acknowledging it.”
“Of course. Continue, please.”
“Cassie is the wife of General John Hinton, my former commanding officer.”
“Okay. And what was the nature of your relationship with her?”
Simon hesitated and let his gaze fall to the table before he looked the detective in the eyes again.
“I’m not proud of it. And I regret it everyday. But Cassie and I had an affair.”
“You were having an affair with Cassandra Hinton?”
Simon shook his head. “Had. Past tense.”
“So it was over?” The detective’s tone was skeptical.
“Yes.”
“How long did it go on?”
“For about two and a half years.”
The detective scribbled something in the small notepad he had in front of him. “And when did it end?”
“It ended a year ago. Just before I left Japan.”
“And why did you leave Japan?” The detective looked him in the eyes.
“I got new orders. I was reassigned here to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.”
“And was this an assignment you welcomed?”
“Very much so.” Simon nodded. “My sister lives here in Ohio with her husband, and I welcomed the opportunity to be so close to her again. We hadn’t seen each other in over six years because of my military career. I was eager to leave Japan.”
“Okay. And before you left, you broke it off with Cassandra Hinton?”
“I broke it off with Cassie before my new orders came in. I’d actually tried to break it off with her many times over that two and a half year period.”
“And why is that?”
Simon’s response was immediate. “Because what we were doing was wrong. Adultery is very much a criminal act in the military. Not to mention that John Hinton is my friend. I felt like an asshole for what I was doing.”
“So you ended it?”
“Yes. Once and for all, I ended it.”
“And how did Cassandra Hinton take that?”
“She wasn’t happy about it. She told me I’d be back, just like before. But I wasn’t budging. I was done. And then my new orders came through, and it was like a sign to me. A sign that I was finally doing the right thing.”
“Thank you for being so forthcoming about the affair, Mr. Fairchild. We actually spoke with General Hinton on the phone from Japan yesterday when we notified him of his wife’s death. When we asked him what his wife was doing in Ohio, he told us about her infidelity with you. He figured she was here to see you, so I appreciate you being honest.”
“But she wasn’t here to see me. Or… if she was, I had no clue about it until she showed up out of the blue.”
“So you keep saying.”
“I have no reason to lie about any of it.”
Calm down, Simon. Don’t lose your cool.
“So after you left Japan, how much time went by until you saw Cassandra Hinton again?” the detective asked, ignoring Simon’s outburst.
Simon drew in a deep breath to try and rein in his frustration. “Until yesterday morning when she showed up at my door, I had not laid eyes on her since about two months before I left Japan.”
“Hadn’t seen her?”
“No.”
“Hadn’t spoken to her on the phone?”
“No.”
“Hadn’t texted with her?”
“No.”
“Would you be willing to take a polygraph to that effect?”
“Yes. I have nothing to hide.”
The detective nodded and jotted something else down in his notes. Then he looked at Simon again.
“Mr. Fairchild, can you—”
“Major Fairchild. Or Dr. Fairchild.” Simon corrected, staring the detective in his eyes. “I know it’s probably petty. But I worked hard for both of those titles. And I don’t like being respectful only to be shown disrespect in return.”
He also didn’t appreciate being treated like a liar, but he didn’t say that part out loud.
“Can you give me an account of your whereabouts yesterday?”
A sour grin slid past Simon’s lips at the detective’s total disregard of his outburst.
“When yesterday?”
“All day. What did you do?”
“My girlfriend and I got up about five-thirty and went for run.”
It was the first time he’d ever called Jamie that. Funny how it felt so natural.
“What’s your girlfriend’s name?”
“Jamie Rooney.”
“And she went running with you?”
“Yes.”
“Where’d you run?”
“We took a three-mile route around my neighborhood. Same route I’ve taken every morning since I moved into the house.”
“Around the Patterson Park neighborhood where our officers picked you up?”
“Correct.”
“Okay. Then what’d you do?”
“Then we ran home. We were making breakfast when Cassie showed up. It was not a happy reunion.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because she was talking crazy. Like she actually thought that she and I were just going to pick up where we’d left off. Like we hadn’t ended things before I left Japan. It was just… odd.”
“Odd because you hadn’t had any contact in that year.”
“Right.”
“And did you argue about that?”
Simon shrugged. “Voices got raised in frustration, but I wouldn’t really call it an argument.”
“So, it didn’t get heated?”
“Not really.”
“You didn’t put your hands on her at all?”
Simon was about to say no. Then he remembered that he had.
“She tried to hug me when I first came to the door. I was so shocked to see her there that I placed my hands on her shoulders.” He lifted his hands to demonstrate. “Kind of holding her at bay.”
“Okay. But did you shove her or hit her or anything?”
“No, of course not.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“I’m positive about that.” He looked the detective in the eyes again. “My sister is a former victim of domestic violence. And so is my girlfriend. Men that do that shit get no respect from me. That is a club you will never find me in.”
“Okay. So what did you do after she left?”
“Jamie and I finished breakfast. We showered. Then we went hiking out at the Clifton Gorge.”
“You did a three-mile run that morning, and then you went hiking?”
“Yes.”
“Wow. That pace would seriously injure me.” A disingenuous grin smeared the detective’s lips, and Simon could tell he didn’t believe his story.
“Jamie and I are both very active and outdoorsy people.”
“I guess. Did you see anyone at the gorge? Anyone who could corroborate that you and your girlfriend were there?”
Simon thought about that. “We probably passed about half a dozen other people on the trail that day, I guess. If you’re asking if I knew any of them personally, the answer is no.”
“What’d you do after that?”
“After our hike, we rode over to the farmer’s market in Fairborn. Walked around there for a while. Took our purchases home. And we were in the rest of the day.”
“And your girlfriend lives with you?”
“No. She lives in Blue Ash, but she’s been staying with me for the week.”
“So she was with you the entire day?”
“We’ve been together twenty-four seven since she got here three days ago.”
“Well, that sounds like a pretty solid alibi.”
Simon nodded, trying to ignore the glimmer of hope blooming in his gut. “Because it is.”
“No offense, Mr. Fairchild, but we’ll be the judge of that.” The detective’s tone was smug. “We’ll be speaking with Ms. Rooney soon.”
Jamie took a slow, deep breath to try and calm her frazzled nerves. She could do this.
Back at Simon’s house, she’d taken the time to look some things up on the Internet. Things like the exact location of the nearest police station. It hadn’t occurred to her until just now, as she sat staring out the front windshield of her car, that those cops could’ve taken Simon to another precinct or something.
She would just have to try. If he wasn’t here, she would ask them exactly where they’d taken him. She would demand it. She had a right to know what they’d done with her boyfriend.
Her boyfriend.
Wow.
She hadn’t said, or even thought those words in months. The last time she’d had a boyfriend she hadn’t been all that proud to admit it. Years of being treated like the dog shit one might scrape off the bottom of a show does that to a girl.
But now, things were different.
Simon was different.
He was the most caring man she’d ever met. Simon thought about others. He went out of his way to make someone else smile. He seemed so big and strong and imposing, and she had no doubt that he could certainly hold his own in a battle if he needed to. He was a soldier, after all. But inside, he had the soft, squishy heart of a teddy bear, and Jamie loved that about him.
She was finally proud to use that boyfriend word.
He would move heaven and earth to make sure she was okay if the tables were turned. She knew that with every fiber of her being. So she could do this.
She had to.
For him.
One more deep breath. Then she gathered up her keys, her purse, and all of the courage she could carry, and got out of her car. She marched toward the front doors of the police station and quickly stepped inside before she could talk herself out of it.
The place was a lot more orderly and sedate than she’d been expecting. Not that she’d had any real clue of what to expect. She’d never been inside a police station before. She’d only been outside of one once when her abusive ex had been arrested on assault charges, and she’d gone to pick him up after he’d made bail.
She walked over to the desk across from the door and looked the uniformed officer manning it in the eyes.
“What can I do for you, miss?”
Jamie’s heart stalled and leapt to her throat.
Breathing, and rational thought, froze.
Her mouth moved, but what were words?
“Miss?”
Fear gripped her gut.
Say something, Jamie, Simon needs you!
“Miss?”
“Yes. I’d like to speak with the detectives in charge of the Cassandra Hinton case.”
She’d said that. Out loud.
She’d done it. And her voice was steady and strong.
The officer stared at her, unblinking.
“Name?”
“My name?” her voice cracked, making her sound weak and unsure. “Jamie. Jamie Rooney.”
The man picked up a phone and pushed a couple of buttons. He spoke to someone, but it was too soft and brief for Jamie to hear.
“Come with me, ma’am.”
“Oh. Okay.”
He led her back across the vestibule and into a small room to the right of the main entrance. The room itself was clean and industrial-looking. Bland, blue carpet. Functional table with two chairs. A window.
“Have a seat. A detective will be with you shortly.”
“Thank you.”
He left her alone and Jamie checked the time on her phone. A quarter ’til ten. So much had happened and it was still only mid-morning. She paced around the room for a moment before she took a seat and tried not to fidget.
She’d been waiting for five minutes that felt more like fifty when the door opened and a tall, stern-looking detective walked in. He was followed by another who was just a smidge shorter and more rotund.
Jamie got to her feet before they could finish introducing themselves.
“Where is Simon Fairchild? I demand to know where you’re holding him!”
Terror bubbled in her belly.
She was uneasy being alone in a room with two strange men, even if they were cops. But at the moment, she was all Simon had until Sidney showed up, and she needed to advocate for him.
She looked the two men in the eyes refusing to back down.
“Simon Fairchild is being held in a room upstairs that’s very much like this one. And right now, he’s speaking with detectives. I promise you he has not been harmed in any way, okay?”
Jamie didn’t respond verbally, she just continued to stare at them.
“You’re Ms. Jamie Rooney, right?”
Jamie folded her arms in front of her. “That’s right.”
“We’re actually glad you came in. You’ve saved us a trip. We had you on our list to speak to because Mr. Fairchild mentioned you. Do you have some time to answer a few questions now?”
This is not what she’d been expecting.
“Sure.”
“Great. Can I get you a bottled water or some coffee or something?”
The detective was being very nice to her, almost overly so. Treating her delicately, as though he thought she might fall apart — or maybe attack — at any moment.
“No, nothing. Thanks.”
“Okay. Let’s sit.”
He motioned her to a chair and Jamie sat back down. He took the other chair while his partner remained standing. Then he pulled out a small notepad and pen, and fixed her with a warm gaze.
“Ms. Rooney, what is the nature of your relationship with Simon Fairchild?”
What was she just telling herself in the car?
“He’s my boyfriend.”
“Okay. How long you two been together?”
“Officially, just a few days. But unofficially? I suppose we’ve been dancing around things for about four months now.”
“And where were you the day Cassandra Hinton showed up at Simon Fairchild’s house?”
“I was right there. I answered the door.”
“So you spoke with Cassandra Hinton?”
“Briefly. She asked for Simon. And when he came to the door, I stayed in the room and watched their entire exchange.”
“Okay, so they both knew you were there?”
“Of course.”
It was an odd question for him to ask, and Jamie wondered why he’d asked it. What? Did they think she might have killed the poor woman?
She pushed that thought aside and tried to focus. They questioned her thoroughly, asking all about her and Simon’s relationship, why she was staying at his house, and their exact schedule for the day Cassandra Hinton died.
Jamie could tell that her timeline of events for that day matched up with whatever Simon must’ve told them by the look that passed between the two detectives.
Finally the one doing most of the talking closed his notebook and smiled at her.
“Well, that’s all we have for now, Ms. Rooney. Thank you for taking the time. You’re free to go, but be sure to stay local for a few days. Just in case we have more questions later.”
He stood up to leave.
“Wait a minute.” Jamie got to her feet. “Simon has been here for over three hours already. When will he be released?”
“Well, we’re holding Simon Fairchild for at least 24 hours while we investigate.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I’m afraid we’re very serious, ma’am. You have a nice day.” He opened the door and then looked at her expectantly.
Jamie walked out of the room without looking back and headed straight for the main entrance. They couldn’t really do that, could they? Hold him for a full 24 hours while they investigate?
This was bad.
It was all so wrong.
And Jamie could just hear her mother’s voice in her head saying ‘I told you so.’ She was so mean to Simon last weekend at the wedding. She’d even had the nerve to take Jamie aside just to tell her that, in her opinion, Simon looked like another abuser brute and that Jamie was going to be sorry.
But Jamie knew different. Chesa Rooney was a good woman, and she’d been a wonderful mother, and Jamie knew she meant well and only wanted her to be safe. But Simon was no abuser, and he was no brute. He would never harm a woman. Of that, Jamie was certain.
Now if she could only make her mother, and the police, understand that.