Friday, June 16 at 2:20 pm
Cam wouldn’t share a single word with her on the phone. She sped to the police station wondering why there was urgency in his voice. Her first thought was her surprise run-in with Jade. In one week, the sketch she did with Jade had disrupted Toni’s life. While she was looking for her last week, Toni had no clue she was going to run in to Jade today.
She huffed as she sprinted towards Cam’s office. When she rounded the corner, she saw Cam talking to Captain Lester Gilliam. She paused, not sure if she should approach. The captain was a good friend of her father’s. She could’ve been paranoid, but she wondered if they were talking about her.
Cam saw her and gave her a head nod in the direction of his desk.
She walked over to his desk and sat. What is going on? It occurred to her she could have jeopardized her role at the department. All she did was sketch a composite.
Finally, Cam walked over. He grabbed a pen and a legal pad from his desk. “Let’s talk in here.”
She jumped up and followed him into an interrogation room. Now, she was totally freaked out. After she entered the room, she turned. “What’s going on? I didn’t do anything to be treated like some suspect. What exactly do you think I did?”
Cam looked at her. “I wanted you to hear this from me and not someone else. Sit please. It’s better if we talk in here.” He pulled the chair out from the table.
She pulled out the other chair and sat across from him. Toni watched as Cam fiddled with his tie as though it was choking him. “I’m going to get right to it. Have you had contact with Paul Lambert?”
Oh no! She swallowed. “Yes.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You purposely reached out to him? Why?”
“No, no! I ran into him while I was at the Niles Foundation.”
“You went back there after we talked?”
“It was for a legitimate reason. I brought a set of paintings to donate. I spoke to Olivia about doing an event around domestic violence. She loved the idea and liked my work. On the way out, Paul stepped off the elevator. I was as surprised to see him as he was to see me.”
“Well, Paul is claiming you’re harassing him. He’s requested a restraining order against you.”
Toni stared at Cam still trying to figure out how this happened. “What? Are you serious? You can’t believe that I’ve been harassing Paul Lambert. Why would I do that? I have a restraining order against him. He assaulted me.”
Cam stared at her for what seemed like a full minute. “He claimed you have been sending him messages over the past few weeks like you were baiting him to contact you.”
“I haven’t emailed, phoned or contacted Paul in two years.”
“But you knew Olivia was his fiancée. You showed up at his fiancée’s office twice.”
Toni grimaced. “Are you trying to accuse me of something, Cam? You’re sounding like you don’t believe me. You know me.”
“Yes, I do. I know you won’t leave well enough alone. Your whole family is that way. You are all born investigators and fixers.”
Toni stood up. “Well it looks like you’ve made your mind up. There’s nothing else I have to say.”
Cam stood. “Calm down, Toni. I’m not accusing you of anything. I wanted to be sure you haven’t gone too far. Sit, please. This is important.”
Toni sat back down.
Cam coaxed. “Let me help you. Tell me everything and don’t leave anything out. Please.”
“Look, I admit the first time I visited the Niles Foundation was out of curiosity about what happened to Jade. That sketch bothered me, but I had no intentions of meeting Olivia. We met and talked. She invited me back. The second time I had an appointment. Olivia knew my name. I wasn’t hiding who I was and she didn’t seem to know my past history with Paul.”
Toni thought about that for a moment. “Or, at least she pretended like she didn’t know. I guess it was weird how Paul just showed up. His phone call afterwards was even weirder.”
Cam stopped scribbling on his legal pad. “So he reached out to you? He broke the no contact order? When and why didn’t you report him?”
“I…I guess because I brought it on myself.”
“Toni, he still violated the order. You should have reported it. What did he say to you? Did he threaten you?”
Toni nodded, “He assumed I was trying to ruin his life. He told me to leave him and Liv alone. Look you can check my phone records, my emails or whatever you need. I have not been harassing him. What proof does he have? Is he even on his meds? He could just be making this stuff up.”
“It’s possible. Believe me, we’re looking into his claims. In the mean time, you should lay low and avoid all contact. Is there anything else I should know?”
Toni blew out a breath. “I don’t know if it matters, but I saw Jade again today.”
Cam stared, “Why did you see Jade?”
“I didn’t seek her out.”
Cam shook his head. “You just happened to run into her?”
“I met Carol Landers today to discuss managing my social media. I had no idea Jade was her cousin. I didn’t ask for any of this.”
“I know. I’m just concerned about you. You’re like a magnet for trouble lately. At some point, you got to stop.”
“You just accused me of harassing the man who assaulted me.” Toni held up her hands before Cam could protest. “I think I have had enough of all of this myself.”
Cam sighed. “So Jade is Carol’s cousin. Does she have access to accounts?”
Toni nodded. “Olivia mentioned she trusted Carol with her foundation and personal accounts. Just makes me wonder more about Jade. I’m sorry. I know we were talking about me stopping with my unofficial investigation, but the woman was acting strange.”
Cam answered her, “You’re wondering if Jade really went back for her phone?”
Toni sat back and crossed her arms. “You’re suspicious about her now? Why?”
Cam looked troubled. “I’m supposed to be on the victim’s side here. I spoke to Jade earlier this week. Just to check on her and update her on the case. Let’s just say something was off. I’d rather not go into it now. I’m responsible for bringing you in on this case.”
“Neither one of us could have known a sketch was going to send me down this path. I’m glad you know Jade does have access to passwords for the Niles Foundation social media. Who’s to say she doesn’t have access to other passwords?”
Cam frowned. “You think Jade let somebody into the gallery to steal?”
“Was it a real assault or just a diversion for someone to get in and out? You said nothing showed on the cameras. Someone messed with the cameras.”
Cam rubbed his head. “This is all turning out to be really strange. Which makes me think you should be a lot more careful. With Paul thinking you’re harassing him, we certainly don’t need you getting more involved in this case.”
“By the way, did Paul mention when I supposedly started harassing him?”
Cam looked at his pad and flipped a page. “He claimed it’s been a few weeks. He did mention he didn’t understand why the sudden harassment because you both had moved on.”
Toni said, “So it could be someone else and he just accused me because we ran into each other. And of course, I just happened to show up from a meeting with his fiancée.”
Cam nodded, “That’s what I’m thinking.”
“Good. For awhile there I thought you didn’t believe me.”
“I know what Paul put you through. I know you have moved on from him. My goal here was to let you know and to be sure I protected you.”
“That’s why I saw you talking to the captain. How much did you tell him? You know he’s friends with my dad.”
“I told Captain Gilliam just enough. I didn’t mention the composite and how this all started. Just your assault a few years ago.”
“Thanks. I hope you can at least find out who else was in the building that night since Paul does have an alibi.”
“Me too. I’m hoping the missing painting will lead to answers. I would really prefer if you stayed as far away from the folks at the Niles Foundation as possible.”
Toni sighed. “The sad thing is I sincerely believe in the foundation’s mission and I like Olivia.”
“I’m sure there are other opportunities out there. I would like to see these paintings one day. In the meantime, make sure your paperwork is renewed with the judge.”
Toni rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry. I will head that way after I leave here.”