Amos tried to follow Cedric back to the neighborhood as best as he could, but Cedric was driving at breakneck speed down I-26, mainly in the left lane. “I don’t blame him for being in a hurry, but he shouldn’t attract attention to himself,” Amos said when we lost sight of him.
I nodded, thinking the same thing and prayed the Lord would keep my son safe. I knew he was panicked and worried about Carmen.
By the time we arrived at the home Cedric had lived in for the past ten years, it appeared as though Cedric swung his BMW into the driveway and barely cut the engine before he scrambled out. Carmen’s Murano was parked carefully next to it.
Amos pulled in behind Carmen’s car. Before I got out, Amos asked, “Are you sure we shouldn’t give them some space?”
For a moment, Amos’s question hung in the air. “I just want to make sure Carmen is okay. Then, we can go.”
I really did want to know how she was holding up. I believed she hadn’t done anything to that man, especially after seeing how terrified she was yesterday. Still, it was for that very reason I wanted to hear for myself why Carmen purposely sought the man out.
Alone.
Anyone who watched enough horror movies or any Lifetime movie about crazy exes knew you just don’t confront the person alone, and I knew Carmen secretly liked watching those movies even though she complained about the stupid plots.
I walked up to the door and started to ring the doorbell when Amos tapped me on the shoulder. “We may want to come back later, Eugeena. Looks like Cedric and Carmen have company.” He tilted his head to the left to indicate someone was behind us.
I turned around to see a familiar looking Crown Victoria pull up in front of the house. The driver seemed small in the front seat, but I knew from past experience the petite woman who climbed out of the car was a tough cookie.
Detective Sarah Wilkes walked around the car towards the house. She was dressed in her usual uniform of khaki pants and a white shirt. Her official badge hung from her neck. She approached, and I noticed her freckled face appeared grim as she stared in our direction.
“Mrs. Patterson and Mr. Jones, why am I not surprised to see you both here?”
“Well, we’re here to check on Carmen,” I offered.
Amos added, “I understand you already took her statement.”
Wilkes’ red hair was much longer now than when I first met her, but she kept it in her standard ponytail which hung down her back. “I’m here to speak to Dr. Cedric Patterson.” Her right eyebrow raised as she glanced at me. “From my memory, he’s your son.”
“Yes, he is, and you won’t find out anything from him.”
Detective Wilkes smirked. “I will be the judge of that, Mrs. Patterson.”
At that moment the front door opened, and we all peered through the screen door as Carmen looked out at us. Her red-rimmed eyes passed over me and Amos, finally resting on Detective Wilkes. Her shoulders heaved as if she let out a huge sigh before opening the door. “Did you need something else, Detective Wilkes?”
“I need to talk to your fiancé.”
Carmen’s eyes grew wide. “Why?”
Cedric’s voice floated from behind her. “It’s okay, Carmen. Let’s get this over with.”
Carmen stepped to the side, eyeing Detective Wilkes as if she was the enemy. I followed with Amos close behind. I stepped beside Carmen and reached up to rub her shoulder. “How are you holding up?”
She shook her head and whispered before closing the door and heading to the living room. “Not too good. This has become a nightmare.” Amos stood off to the side near the dining room area and I joined him to stay out of Detective Wilkes’ way.
Cedric caught my eye, but then looked away as Detective Wilkes sat on the chair opposite where he and Carmen sat together on the couch. I couldn’t help but notice there was significant space between Cedric and his bride-to-be. Not afraid of public affection, I’ve seen these two practically glued together even in my own house. It pained me to see the gap and I hoped it wouldn’t get much worse.
Detective Wilkes began. “Dr. Patterson, please tell me your whereabouts between the hours of 12:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.?”
That time frame had to be when Darius was killed. My love of detective television shows taught me that much.
Cedric stared back at Detective Wilkes. “I’m not sure precisely when I arrived at the hospital, but I’m fairly certain when I checked in with nurses on duty it was after midnight.”
“What were you doing prior to checking in?”
“I drove around for a bit, then I drove to the hospital and sat in the car for a while. I came in, spoke to the security officer and then checked on my patients. I talked to the nurses on duty and grabbed some sleep. I woke this morning to my mom saying Carmen was looking for me.”
Detective Wilkes was jotting down notes and remained quiet for what seemed like a long time. She peered up at Cedric, “You said you spoke to the security guard, so he was the first person to notice you in the hospital?”
Cedric shrugged. “Yes, that would be correct.”
“You don’t recall noting the time until you talked to the night shift nurses?”
“There’s a big clock that hangs behind the nurses’ station. I want to say it was after midnight. I could be wrong.”
“But you spoke to the nurses on duty?”
“Like I said, I checked in with them.”
Detective Wilkes stared at him, “So how long would you say you visited with your patients?”
“About fifteen or twenty minutes. They were asleep, so I checked their charts and stepped back out of the room.”
Wilkes shifted her gaze to Carmen and back to Cedric. “I understand you and Ms. Alpine had an argument last night. What time did you leave?”
Cedric frowned. “I don’t know. I was too upset to notice.”
“So you just drove around town for a few hours before arriving at the hospital?”
Cedric nodded.
Wilkes continued. “You didn’t happen to drive by the Charleston Place Hotel?”
“Not that I remember.” Cedric answered back with a sharp tone to his voice. “I’d like to remind you because I see where you’re going with your questions, I’ve never met Darius Randall in my life. I wouldn’t even know what he looked like, and I only learned about him last night. I certainly wouldn’t have had time to track him down.”
“But Ms. Alpine had Mr. Randall’s information. You could have found it.”
Cedric whipped around to look at Carmen.
The look my son gave Carmen stabbed me in my heart. I’d seen Cedric hurt before, but this expression hovered between unbelief and pain.
Carmen returned Cedric’s gaze before turning away. Her voice was so low, I had to lean forward to hear her. “I saw Darius briefly at the hospital when I was visiting a patient. I was surprised, shocked really. Anyway, before I could walk away, he gave me a business card. He wrote his hotel information on the back before he handed it to me.”
Cedric’s tone was sharp. “His hotel room number. Really? You stood there long enough for him to write down his hotel information?”
“It’s been almost ten years,” Carmen said, “I don’t know why he did that or what he wanted.”
Cedric stood. “Why did you go over there?”
Detective Wilkes held up her hand. “Dr. Patterson, please. You can discuss this with your fiancée later. I haven’t finished your statement.”
Cedric glared. “I have nothing else to say. I don’t exactly go through Carmen’s things. After we argued, I left. If you have other questions for me, then I will need to get a lawyer.” He jabbed his fingers at her. “You can’t place me near a crime scene.”
With that, Cedric walked out.
I started to go after him, but Amos stopped me. “Let me do this, man to man. Somebody needs to keep an eye on Carmen. That girl might fall apart.”
I looked back at Carmen who had tears streaming down her face. I nodded to Amos and watched as he darted out after Cedric. I walked over to the couch and placed my hand on Carmen’s shoulder. “Do we need to continue this now, Detective Wilkes?”
The detective stared at Carmen and then looked over at me. “I will reach out to Dr. Alpine or Dr. Patterson if I need to.”
“I didn’t do anything,” Carmen wailed. “I just went over there this morning to ask him to leave me alone. He’s done enough to me in the past.”
“Shhhh,” I encouraged Carmen. “We know you didn’t do anything.” Something Carmen said earlier struck me at that moment. “You said Darius had been here since last week.”
Carmen nodded. “Yes, I saw him Thursday.”
“The Charleston Place Hotel is pretty expensive. For him to stay a whole week would have cost a fortune. What did he do for a living, Carmen?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. He was an accountant when we were married. He had a large salary and always liked nice things.”
I looked over at Detective Wilkes who was watching us with interest. “Do you know what he did, Detective Wilkes? Sounds like he was, as the young kids say, a baller.”
Detective Wilkes raised her eyebrows. “And why do you find this interesting, Mrs. Patterson?”
I smiled back at the detective knowing she didn’t want me poking my nose in her case, but still unable to resist. “Because, Detective, as you probably already know, money is the root of all evil.”
The detective returned my smile with her own wry smile. “I’m betting that Mr. Randall’s death was one of passion. I doubt money had anything to do with it.” She turned to Carmen, “I will be in touch, Dr. Alpine.”
I got up to walk the detective out. From the window outside, I could see Amos talking to Cedric on the porch. Both men turned as Detective Wilkes walked out towards her car. I hoped Amos had talked some sense into Cedric’s head. He really didn’t need to lose his temper in front of the detective that way.
I had a feeling Detective Wilkes’ was focusing on Carmen for the murder. She found the man and had a pretty good motive, but I also sensed the detective was missing some vital details and I intended to find those out.
As soon as I saw the detective drive off, I stepped outside. “Both of you get in here now. We have work to do.”
My son and Amos looked at me, their eyes wide like a deer staring into oncoming headlights. I hissed at them both. “Move it. We’ve got to get to the bottom of this now. Detective Wilkes already has her suspect in mind.”
I turned and went back into the house. This woman in front of me with the tear-stained face was supposed to become my future daughter-in-law. In all honesty, I should be spitting mad with her for keeping such a huge secret. And for crying out loud, why go see the man?
I’d learned in the past few years that Carmen was a genuinely good woman, and I had been spending too much time the last few months planning a wedding. I didn’t particularly like spending my free time in vain. Nothing was going to stop me, not even a murderer.