“Let’s start again. And this time you can tell me the story, knowing that I know the truth.” Gwilly relaxed his posture to a friendlier position.
“Fine, Geo and I were lovers, but only because he gave me drugs for free. And he gave me money to keep an eye on his operations.” She gripped the picnic bench as if it were a lifeline. “But I wanted out. I even told Andy I wanted out. I think that’s what Andy told Geo last night that got him killed.”
“I thought you said Geo was mad because he thought they ratted him out?”
“That, too. It’s such a mess. And when Geo found me in the closet, he made me promise to go to the cops and tell them all about the drug deal going down. Tell it like Andy and Leon were still alive. He trusted that I’d do it for him. And he said the only reason I wasn’t dead was because he needed me to buy him some time.”
Feeling the bile rise in his throat, Jake wanted to wrap his fingers around Kim’s throat and choke the life out of her. She’d played him hard.
“You know your story doesn't really add up?”
“Like I said, I was high. It’s all sort of a jumble. I just know that Geo killed Andy and Leon, and he told me to walk to the police station and tell them I wanted to plead ‘no contest’ to the charges, and ask about the S.A.F.E. program to show that I was sincere. Then I was to tell you and the D.A. about a couple of drug deals going down next week. They were deals he knew about, and he figured it’d be at least that long before you found the bodies. Who the hell knew someone would call the cops so soon?”
“So why are you ratting out Geo now?” Jake asked. The fire in his words burning his throat.
She looked at Jake, her eyes melting into tears. “Because I want out. I did everything everyone asked me to do, and nothing went as planned. Geo said he’d come and get me Monday, after the judge granted me into the program, and we’d be gone. Either way, with Andy or with Geo, I was outta here.”
“So, let’s say we hadn’t found the bodies right away. What would have happened when we arrived at the location of the drug buy?” Gwilly’s words friendlier now, coaxing.
“Geo set up one of his rivals. You’d have walked in on a drug buy. A fucking huge deal going down at the warehouse. His rival would be gone, and he’d lay low for a while, then we’d be back in business.” She wiped her tears away with the back of her forearm.
“I thought you were blowing this town?”
“That’s what he promised, but then I realized he’d never leave. Not unless the cops got too close. He didn’t want to start all over in a new place, learn the ways of the cops, and build a new clientele. That’s when I knew I was on my own. My life is over as I know it. And when Tucker offered me a job, I gladly took it. If I get into the S.A.F.E program, I’m going to work it like my life depends on it, because it does.”
The contradictions in her statements were overwhelming. Jake wasn’t even sure she knew what the truth was.
“You’d be required to participate in a twelve-step program, too. You need new friends, and I don’t think Jake can do this by himself.” Gwilly grabbed the recorder from the table and put it in his pocket. Then he pulled out a brown evidence bag, unfolded it, and put it on the table. “Jake, I need the shirt she was wearing last night when she left the house. I want to do a GSR test on it.”
Jake tried to remember what she was wearing. So much had happened that night, and his mind was a jumble.
“It was your shirt, Jake. I had on the shirt and sweat pants you gave me.”
No, it wasn’t. She’d changed back into her own clothes. Her lie jogged his memory. He didn’t think the shirt was still in the house. Without responding, Jake went into his bedroom and dug through her duffel bag. He found the clothes she’d put in the washer and put them in the evidence bag. He wasn’t going to say anything, but then he didn’t want to stoop to her level. He’d already stooped low enough.
When Jake handed the bag to Gwilly, he said, “She had actually changed clothes. She and my uncle were sitting at the kitchen table, and I remember she had changed back into the clothes she’d been wearing when she got out of jail. She’d washed them. Later, she put them back on when she thought I was asleep.”
Kim looked at Jake as if he were the devil.
“I’m not lying for you, Kim, not when I know the truth. That’s not how relationships and friendships work.”
He saw the will blow out of her with one breath. “Fine, you’re right.” She looked at Gwilly. “My mistake. Not a lie, just a mistake.”
Gwilly stood. “Stand up,” he said to Kim.
Kim looked at Jake, then at Gwilly. “Why?”
“Kim, nothing you told the D.A. is true. There’s no drug deal going down. You readily admitted to doing meth while you were at the house. Stand up and turn around.”
Jake didn’t even have time to blink before Kim bolted.
He leapt forward and reached out, catching the end of her ponytail, wrenching her back.
“Motherfucker,” she screamed.
“Shut the fuck up,” Jake said. He helped her off the grass, never letting go of her ponytail.
Gwilly stepped up. “Kim, you’re under arrest…”