Chapter 26

Jake’s neck ached. He’d been buried in the Wagner file for hours. Standing, he stretched, reached for the ceiling, and then walked from the kitchen to the living room and back again. He was a little restless and a lot lonely. It amazed him that in such a short time how his feelings for Mia had grown. Him—a “love ’em and leave ’em” kind of guy. The thought brought a smile to his face. Normally, he cherished his time alone when in a relationship. A loner, he hated to have his privacy invaded. That was before Mia came into his life. He used to be able to spend hours on his files, dissecting them without interruptions or complaints. Now all he wanted was Mia to be there, to talk to her, joke with her, and most of all, make love to her. Shaking his head, he laughed. He decided to dig into his files to keep his mind occupied.

* * * *

Tuesday morning proved to be busier than Monday. Another trip to Judge Eisenberg’s chambers had them waiting over forty-five minutes before he called them in.

“What’s up now, Jake?” Eisenberg asked.

“I need some search warrants on the Wagner case.”

“What are you searching for?”

“The diary we told you about yesterday.”

“Where are you going to look for it?” Eisenberg asked.

“I need warrants for the Wagner’s house, Meryl Drake’s house, Mark Cavilla’s house, and their cars,” Jake said.

“What’s your probable cause?”

“I read her old diaries last night. They explain her relationships with Chloe, Meryl Drake, and Mark Cavilla. They weren’t always flattering. Chloe Wagner called me last night.”

Eisenberg interrupted. “I thought you had a restraining order on her? Doesn’t it also include contact on your personal phones?”

“Yes, it does. She called because Cavilla called her last night, after months of no contact and asked about her arrest and if there was any new evidence. He also asked if she knew the reason for the new interviews.”

“That’s it?”

“Chloe Wagner, when asked, had no qualms about telling us about the diaries, and where they were kept. She even offered the old ones, stored at her parents’ house. She gave them up without a warrant.”

“If that’s the case, why get a warrant for her house?”

Jake talked himself down. He needed to remain calm, lay out his logic. “Maybe she held back on the last one. We need to be sure. Your Honor, the violence in this crime suggests a crime of passion. Both Drake and Cavilla were Shanna Wagner’s lovers. We feel the recent evidence, and new information, warrants a second look.”

“Relax, Jake. I want to make sure it’s not another goose chase. You have your probable cause, get it done.” Eisenberg issued the warrants.

Outside the courthouse, Louie asked, “Are we taking a team with us?”

“Yes, but I want a few minutes to explain to the Wagners, including Chloe, why we got a warrant this time.” Jake looked at Louie, noting his frown. “She turned the other diaries over without a warrant.”

Louie nodded.

“Are you leaning toward her for this?”

“What if she’s the guilty one?” Louie asked.

“Louie, we’ll be talking to her at the house. I’m not giving her advance warning. Besides my gut tells me she’s not the one.”

“Well, Jake, didn’t your gut tell you last week she was the one?”

“No.” With Louie he could be honest.

“No? Then why’d we detain her?”

“Last week she crossed a line when she went after Mia. What would you have done if she’d gone after Sophia?” Jake asked, staring at Louie.

“The same thing.” Louie patted Jake’s shoulder.

“Let’s go set up our teams for Drake and Cavilla’s houses. I want to take the Wagners first to eliminate them.”

“I’ll review today’s roster, see who’s on,” Louie said.

“I’ll update the captain while you’re at it. Meet me in my office in twenty minutes.”

Louie nodded as they parted ways.

Jake chose his team, consisting of three uniformed officers—Burrows, Sherman, and Jones. He briefed them and showed them the diaries he confiscated yesterday to give them an idea of what they were looking for. Officer Jones hid a smile as she coughed into her hand.

“Is something amusing, Officer Jones?” Jake asked.

“No, sir,” she replied, coming to attention.

“It’s going to be a long day. We’re not going to stop until we find the diary. Pick up lunch on your way to your first assignment. We’ll eat on the road on our way to the second house. Sergeant Romanelli or I will give you a call when we’re on our way. Questions?” Jake looked around.

In unison he got, “No, sir.”

“Great, we’ll see you in an hour or so.”

Officer Jones hung back. “Sorry, sir, for the smirk.”

“What’s so funny?”

“The diary, sir, and you having to explain what it was.” She flashed him a big, toothy grin.

“Most men, Officer Jones, don’t have a clue a woman keeps them.”

“I know.” She continued to grin as she turned, and left his office. He laughed at her back.

Jake had called the Wagners, and was surprised to find Chloe home from work. He told them he needed to speak with them about the diaries, offering no other explanation.

“Lieutenant?” Mr. Wagner opened the door before Jake had the chance to knock.

“Can we come in?”

“Yes. Anna’s at a doctor’s appointment. I dropped her off before your call.”

“Good, we don’t want to upset her.” Jake looked up as Chloe walked into the room.

“What’s this about, Jake?” Chloe asked.

“Chloe, you gave us the diaries with no warrant. I wanted to return the courtesy. We have a search warrant here to see if Shanna’s missing diary is still hidden somewhere within the house…”

“You mean if I hid it, after I killed her,” Chloe said bitterly.

“Yes.” He couldn’t offer her more. “In order to lock down the killer we need to be thorough. We have warrants for all the suspects in the case and we can’t show favoritism.” He stressed the word suspects.

“Do you understand? It’ll be me and Louie. I’m not bringing in a team.” He decided that on the way over.

“You have to do this to eliminate Chloe?” Mr. Wagner understood what Jake wasn’t saying.

“Yes.”

“Get it done, Lieutenant. We’ll be in the kitchen having coffee. Do either one of you want coffee?”

“No, thanks.” Jake and Louie walked down the hallway to Shanna’s room and began their search.

They rummaged through the drawers and the closet. They tested the floor boards and found the loose one where Shanna had kept her diaries.

Jake walked back into the kitchen and spoke to Chloe. “Your room’s next. Do you want to be there?”

“What, and watch you rifle through my underwear? No, thank you.” She turned away and poured another cup of coffee.

A few minutes into the search of Chloe’s room, a thought hit him and Jake headed to the kitchen. He stopped outside the kitchen door when he heard Joe talking.

“I’m sorry I ever doubted you, honey. Please forgive me,” Mr. Wagner said.

“Dad, I wish there was nothing to forgive. I understand Jake planted the seed in your head, but you should have had more faith in me.”

Guilt tugged at him when the pain in Chloe’s voice cut through his thoughts as he eavesdropped. Unfortunately, in a murder investigation the innocent sometimes got burned while the police dug for their answers and the killer. Sometimes it ripped their lives apart and it could never be mended. He was always sorry for his part in it, but it was the victims he worked for, not the survivors.

“I understand your grief. Nobody realizes how much I miss Shanna. You should never have doubted how much I loved her.”

“I have no explanation, Chloe. I do love you as much as I loved Shanna. Finding the ring in her room—it threw me. I forgot Meryl was here… I rushed to hock it just to get it out of the house. I knew they’d look at you first. I didn’t want you involved. I can’t lose you. Please forgive me?”

“Yes.”

“Honey, these last few months almost destroyed us. Maybe the three of us can go away for a couple of weeks when this is settled. We’ll try to heal.”

“Will we ever heal, Dad?”

“We’ll always miss her, Chloe. We’ll never be whole again without her, but we’ll heal somehow and go on with our lives.”

“I love you, Daddy.”

“I love you too, honey.”

Jake decided he would ask his question later. He went back down the hall to help Louie.

* * * *

They searched the whole house, from the attic to the basement. They found nothing. Jake called the team as they headed to Drake’s apartment complex.

On the way, they stopped off at Nardelli’s and picked up grinders for lunch. It was already eleven o’clock, and he didn’t want anything to hold him up from leaving on time tonight. Nothing less than a bomb would keep him from seeing Mia.