“I'll own this entire department by the time I'm done suing y'all!” Kerry pounded on the walls of the tiny jail cell that occupied the very back of the Callahan County sheriff's department building. There were only two cells and they were so rarely used that the one Kerry had been put into was chock full of cobwebs and spiders with egg sacks. “Addison framed me! Y'all know he did!”
Kerry kicked at the wall and was rewarded by a burst of pain in his foot. “Every minute I'm in here is another million dollars y'all will have to pay me!”
The door between the cell room and the rest of the building opened. Sullivan Briggs walked in with Sheriff Frank Chasson on his heels. The Sheriff's weathered face was red from irritation and he was sweating despite the frigid air that was being blown out of the air conditioning unit.
“Calm down,” the sheriff said.
“Calm down?” Kerry kicked the wall again. “Your nephew framed me!”
“Addison didn't put that head in the trunk of your car.” Frank walked to the very edge of the cell. “The boy might be a bit on the impulsive and immature side, but even Addison ain't dumb enough to hide body parts in another officer's personal vehicle. Besides, he swears he was on call all day today. I checked the dispatch logs to verify he was telling the truth.”
“Who says he planted the skull today?” Kerry demanded. “Do you have any idea how rarely I look in the trunk of my car?”
“Does anyone else have access to your car?” The sheriff countered.
“No,” Kerry snapped even as a sinking feeling started to fill his chest.
“No one?”
Kerry sighed. Only one other person had driven the Audi in the last year. That man had been a murderer. “Curtis Heinstein could have put that head in the trunk of my car before Cal Walker killed him. He held me hostage in my own house. He had access to my car keys and my car.”
“Curtis Heinstein has been dead for two months, son.” Frank didn't look convinced. “You really telling me that you could have been driving around with that head in your trunk for the last two months and not noticed?”
“I don't go in the trunk very often,” Kerry repeated. “The head was under the carpeting where the spare tire is supposed to go. I can't remember the last time I saw the spare tire. I've never used it.”
“Whoever that head belongs to has been dead for less than two months.” Sully spoke for the first time since coming into the cell area. “Do you have any idea how fast a body can decompose in the swamp in the summer?”
“Curtis could have put the head in my trunk.” Kerry shot a pointed look at Sheriff Chasson. “He held me hostage. He took advantage of me. He said he'd ruin my life if I turned him in to the police. Maybe he planted that head in my car so that he could use it against me later on.”
“Or maybe you're the killer,” Sully suggested. “It will be impossible to determine whether or not Curtis Heinstein ever had any contact with the skull. You barfed on it and destroyed any evidence that might have been used to exonerate you.”
“Well, that was convenient for him, wasn't it?” Frank and Sully exchanged a look that Kerry understood all too clearly.
“You guys can't frame me for murder just because you don't like me.”
“We're not framing you for murder,” Frank clarified. “We're investigating you and possibly charging you for murder because you were driving around Possum Creek with someone's head in your trunk. We have 72 hours before we have to charge you or release you.”
“You can't keep me here for three days!”
“Technically, we can.” Sully tapped on the bars of Kerry's cell. “To be honest, this is most likely some kind of a prank. You're not a popular guy. One of the many citizens you've falsely accused or illegally arrested in the past may have decided to return the favor. Regardless of my feelings or suspicions, we've still got to follow the law and investigate this incident with the full resources that have been granted to us as law enforcement officers.”
“This is bullshit.” Kerry was starting to realize that he might very well be spending the next three days living in this tiny box.
“If you're lucky, it won't take more than day or two for Sully to figure out what funeral parlor or graveyard the pranksters stole the skull from,” Frank said. “In the meantime, would you like me to call somebody for you?”
“Who the heck would I call?” Kerry sat down on the edge of the stiff cot with a thud. “I don't have any living family. I don't have any friends. I'd notify my employers, but you guys already know where I am.”
“You could call a lawyer?” Sully suggested, not unkindly.
“Wouldn't do me any good,” Kerry grumbled. “The only lawyer for 50 miles is engaged to my worst enemy. Furthermore, her ex-husband is probably the person who put the skull in my trunk to begin with.”
Sully snorted. He didn't appear to have anything to say to that. Kerry glared at him. “I don't want Addison working on my case.”
“He won't be,” Frank said. “Sully is the one who arrested you and found the head. This is his case.”
“I don't want Addison assisting him.”
“He won't be,” Frank repeated. “I'm not stupid. You and Addy have too much bad blood between you. If you really did kill someone, I can't risk losing the case because your lawyer was able to prove police bias.”
“I didn't kill anyone,” Kerry said. “Maybe David-.”
“Shut up now.” Frank Chasson held up his hand. “I swear to God, if you say one word about David murdering anyone, I'll shoot you and string you up behind the department by your toes. The law firm that handles the county's official business is settling David's police harassment lawsuit against you out of court for just over $125,000.”
“What?” Kerry jumped up from the cot. “The county is paying him over a hundred grand?”
Frank nodded tiredly. “He had a legitimate case against you, Kerry. He was able to prove that you had accused him of murder on multiple occasions and that you had possibly damaged his reputation by doing so. The attorney was worried that he might get a hell of a lot more than 125K if we didn't settle out of court.”
“He was-.”
“He was innocent,” Frank snapped. “He was innocent. He didn't kill Casey Black.”
“He was covering for Ian. Or Ian is covering for him. One of the two.”
“Ian said that David was never involved in Casey's death. He says that David never knew what happened to Casey.”
“I think he's lying,” Kerry said.
“You're the only one who does,” Frank replied. “Ian told me he confessed because you were ruining David's life with your lies and accusations. He said he couldn't handle watching his cousin take the blame for his actions any longer. I hope you're real proud of yourself, Kerry.”
Kerry took a deep breath but managed to stop himself from replying. Ian's confession was a definite sore spot between himself and Sheriff Chasson. Frank blamed Kerry for driving Ian, who was like a son to the sheriff, to confessing to the cold case. Kerry hadn't exactly been able to enjoy his job in the two months since Ian had revealed that he had accidentally flattened Casey Black with his truck and then hidden her body while in a state of total panic.
The confession would have been more convincing, in Kerry's opinion, if Ian could remember where he'd buried Casey's body. Kerry had argued that the case couldn't officially be closed without the body but the sheriff had overruled his arguments for leaving Casey Black's disappearance an active investigation. Ian had confessed and Trish had brokered a deal for him with the state attorney's office. Casey's death had been declared an unfortunate accident. Ian would never see the inside of a jail cell.
It still remained to be seen whether or not he would be allowed to keep his badge.
“I didn't kill anyone,” Kerry said quietly. “Y'all know I didn't.”
“We'll see what the evidence says,” Frank replied. He turned to face Sully. “According to your last captain, you have a damn good record for closing difficult cases. I'm trusting you can handle this nasty business in a way that won't make Callahan County the laughing stock of the state for the third time in as many months?”
“As I told you when you hired me, I'm not some hick running around the swamp with a badge and a gun. I was on the fast-track to make sergeant when Tate got into a tight spot caring for his kids and begged me to move down here and help him out. I came to Possum Creek because I love my brother and my nieces more than I love my job. With that said, I don't like coming home from work every day smelling like a burned brisket. I'd really like to be hired on as a permanent full-time detective.”
“I know what you're after,” Frank said tiredly. “Do your job and I'll see what I can do about giving you a permanent detective's position.”
“A detective?” Kerry didn't even try to hide his annoyance. “I've been with the Callahan County Sheriff's Department longer than Sully has. He can't just leapfrog me for a promotion. He's not even a permanent hire.”
“Sullivan's got ten years of experience and excellent references, Kerry. You've got a decapitated head in the trunk of your car. Why don't you sit in here and think about the differences in your current situations while Sully and I go do some real police work and try to find a name to go with your corpse.” Frank turned on his boot heel and stomped his way out of the cell room. Sully pulled a notepad out of his back pocket.
“Before we leave, I actually have a few quick questions for you.” Sully pulled the cap off his ink pen.
“Forget it,” Kerry replied. “I'm not talking to you without my lawyer. And since I don't have one, that means I'm not talking to you ever.”