Waves of fear rippled through Caitlyn as she listened to Quinton’s raspy voice. This couldn’t be happening. What they’d feared was no longer just an unsubstantiated concern they were working to prove. If the DA’s office was involved, someone had managed to infiltrate the arm of the law. And that’s what scared her.
“What kind of evidence did they find?” Josh asked.
“They got a search warrant for your house and found the murder weapon that killed your wife in the attic,” Quinton said. “On top of that, there’s now a sworn confession from Patrick Lindstrom that he lied about Rudolph’s alibi.”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The case against Rudolph had just unraveled like they’d hoped, but the outcome they were looking at was far from what she’d imagined.
How had this happened?
“So our assumptions on the break-in at Josh’s house were correct,” Caitlyn said. “They weren’t just there to steal a file on Olivia’s case, they were there to plant evidence.”
“I agree,” Quinton said. “But so far the two they arrested are denying that they know anything about Olivia’s murder. They were just there to grab a few valuables to fence.”
“What about the fact that one of them told me he was paid to break in and steal that file?” Josh asked.
“He claims that whatever he said to you, he said out of duress. And to be fair, you do have quite a left hook,” Quinton said. “I saw the kid’s shiner.”
“Funny.” Josh let out a low laugh. “But I’m still convinced he was telling me the truth.”
“It sounds more to me like somebody got to him,” Caitlyn said.
“Yes,” Josh said. “But the bottom line is that no matter how you look at it, the gun in my house is simply circumstantial evidence. The DA has to realize that anyone could have planted it.”
“Circumstantial or not, it’s enough for them to reopen the case and turn their attention to you. On top of that, I just got called into the captain’s office. He started asking me questions again about Olivia’s case and your marriage. Asked me if I knew you were planning to ask her for a divorce.”
“A divorce? What are you talking about, Quinton?”
There was a long pause on the other end. “They found divorce papers, signed by you, in the back of her desk.”
“More lies,” Josh said, the anger evident in his voice. “I didn’t want a divorce, and I didn’t kill her.”
“I know that, but someone’s determined to make it look like you did, and she resisted, and so you killed her. And you have to admit, what the captain’s looking at is compelling.”
“But there’s still something I don’t understand. Why are they trying to frame you?” Caitlyn asked. “Why not just search for the truth? If it wasn’t Rudolph, then the killer’s still out there. Why not find him?”
“Because someone doesn’t want the truth known.” With Quinton still on the line, Josh headed back down the road toward the freeway. “Probably because they want to protect whoever did kill her, and as the husband, I make the perfect scapegoat.”
All three fell silent.
Caitlyn pressed her hand against the gauze, soaking up the blood on her arm, and tried to ignore the throbbing pain shooting down it. Funny how she hadn’t felt the pain until Josh found the wound. Funny how over the past few days, things had at first seemed surreal. But not anymore. Now it was all too real. Planted evidence, false testimonies, and now forged divorce papers . . . someone was putting a lot of effort into ensuring he went down.
Josh flipped off the overhead dome light as darkness began to settle in around them. The last thing they needed was to give any pursuers a target.
“This has gone way too far,” he said. “I need to talk to the captain. He’ll listen to me—”
“I don’t think you understand, Josh,” Quinton said. “You were right about being a scapegoat. Someone’s behind this and determined to take you out, but the problem is that I don’t know who it is. That’s why I’m doing everything to find out, but in the meantime, I even told the captain up front that I had my own suspicions about you. I need him to trust me, so I can stay in the loop and figure out who’s behind this.”
Josh let out a sharp sigh. “Did he believe you?”
“Far as I could tell, he bought it, but he made it clear I’m not going to be in on the case as things progress. My advice is to stay under the radar. Let me try to handle things from here until I can figure out exactly what’s going on.”
“You suspect him?” Josh asked.
“No, but neither can I take any chances at this point.”
“Okay. We can try and stay under the radar, but they’re going to be looking for me. And while I have no idea how they did it, Adams and Sanchez found me once. If they find me again, they’re not going to let me go with nothing more than a veiled threat. They’ll arrest me,” Josh said. “We can keep switching motels, but once we hit the nightly news, someone’s going to see us and talk.”
“I’ve been working on that. Have you got cash?”
“I’m working on getting you a safe house. In the meantime, no credit cards, and do everything you can to stay out of sight. I promise I’ll do whatever I can, but I know they’re watching me as well. The good thing is, I don’t think they’ve been able to track where you’re staying.”
“We’re also going to have to dump the car,” Josh said. “The windows have been shot out and there are bullet holes in the side.”
“That’s going to make it hard to disappear, especially if the car’s how they’ve been tracking you. I think I can come up with something. I’ll try to have a plan worked out in the next hour.”
She caught the hesitation in Josh’s voice as he spoke to Quinton. “You’re sure running is the best option?”
“I’m serious enough to risk my own career for your neck. Dump anything that might be bugged or that they can trace you with.”
“What about Caitlyn?” Josh asked. “I don’t want her involved in this—”
“Except I already am involved,” she said.
“She’s right,” Quinton said. “Keep her with you, but out of sight, so she doesn’t have to deal with their interrogation. Rumor is that you’re with a woman. As far as I know, she hasn’t been identified, but that could change. I’ll call you with details on this number as soon as I can.”
Caitlyn’s heart rate rose with the adrenaline pumping through her body as Josh hung up the call. She wasn’t sure if it was because of what they’d just learned or because she was going into shock from the gunshot wound. All of this because she started asking someone the wrong questions.
Josh pulled out a flashlight from the glove compartment, then got out of the car.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Just give me a minute.”
She laid her head back against the seat and tried to slow her breathing, while trying to take her mind off the pain. She was tired, both emotionally and physically, and yet this was far from over. The last rays of sunlight had almost disappeared, leaving shadows surrounding them. Engaging an enemy was one thing. Fighting an enemy you couldn’t see was terrifying.
Josh slid back into the driver’s seat, then showed her the thin metal disk.
“What’s that?”
“A tracker. They haven’t had to follow us, because they’ve been tracking our car. I found it attached to the underside of the car. If I hadn’t been looking for something specific, I would never have found it.”
Josh shook his head, then threw the device out the window, before starting the engine and heading out of the neighborhood. “Quinton’s right. We need to dump everything they could possibly trace.”
“I agree.”
“We also need to get you to a hospital, but now—”
“Forget the hospital. We’ll use what you have in the first-aid kit, and keep an eye on it, but it’s only a graze. I’ll be okay. Some pain meds would be nice though.”
His voice rose a notch. “They shot you, Caitlyn. This isn’t just going to end. Not until they have us pinned down and in their sights. And now, not only do we have both sides of the law after us, you need medical help.”
She laid her hand on his arm. “I’ll be fine. It just means we’ve got to be smarter than they are. I have the information from the lab to go through. I’m going to need your help to see how it compares to the notes Helen has.”
“Do you think you got what we need from the lab to do that?”
She nodded. “I found the file, and what I suspect they did is run two sets of data from the results in order to hide what they’d discovered, giving them time to continue with the project. I need time to test my theory, but with everything that we have so far, it fits. And it definitely seems to be what Helen was trying to prove. And more than likely, Olivia and Dr. Abbott as well.”
“So on paper the reports look like legitimate research with normal findings—”
“But in reality, the results have actually been manipulated,” she finished for him. “We’re going to need to go through the data sets and get as much information as I can on who created it, what versions are out there, along with any information that can clarify the discrepancies I’m finding in Helen’s notes. If we can prove that with what I found at the lab—and then if we can nail down who’s behind this—we’ll have enough to go to your captain, the DA, and anyone else who needs to know. And with that kind of evidence there will be no way they can dispute that something was going on at that lab.”
“But that doesn’t prove me innocent of murdering my wife.”
“Not by itself, but if we can tie the project to the three deaths, they’ll have to look at the evidence we have.”
“I’m still waiting to hear back from Eddie, but once we get an ID on those photos, that will give us a direction to follow as well as who is behind this.”
He stopped at a red light, then glanced at her. “How’s your arm?”
“Let’s just say I can’t even imagine how painful a gunshot would be if it had done more than just graze me, because I feel as if my arm is on fire. But I’ll be better once some pain medicine kicks in.”
Josh nodded. “We need to dump the car and wait for Quinton, but I’m going to need to stop by a convenience store on the way and make sure we have everything we need to treat your arm.”
Traffic pulsed around Caitlyn as they hit the crowded freeway. The surrounding buildings started to close in around her. Every car and every driver was a potential threat. Josh had gone to his boss with evidence that Beckmann hadn’t murdered his wife, and now someone wanted to pin it on him? That didn’t seem possible, but it had happened.
She’d heard what he said earlier. Understood to a degree what it was going to mean if they tried to figure this out on their own with a warrant out for his arrest. They’d have to cut themselves off from the circle of friends they each had. No technology, no phones, no computers, nothing that could leave bread crumbs back to them. They’ll anticipate where we’re going next. And every time we order food, or catch a ride, or stop at a store like I’m doing right now, we’re taking a chance. And this time, we’ll have the authorities looking for us.
She stared out at the skyline. Lost in a city of millions, one would think she’d be safe. But she didn’t feel safe. At all. And yet neither was she ready to give up.
He pulled into the lot of a strip mall, found a parking spot, then turned off the engine. “You know you don’t have to do this with me—”
“Yes, I do. You need me as much as I need you. I don’t want to be another murder that goes overlooked because I asked too many questions, and on top of that, I don’t want you to take the fall for something you didn’t do.”
Josh took her hand and squeezed her fingers. “Are you sure about this?”
“I am.”
“They will find us. Eventually. And we’re going to have to be ready.”
“My life is on the line as much as yours. All we have to do is find the truth.”
And the truth will set you free.
The verse from John she’d read recently surfaced. That was all they needed. The truth. She knew that sometimes evil men prevailed. That good people sometimes suffered in the hands of evil men. History proved that over and over again.
And yet history also proved that when good men stood up for truth, evil could be thwarted.
“Besides,” she said. “We don’t need long. Just enough time to get the evidence so we can go to the DA and prove our case. If the answers are on that drive, we can show them what we have.”
“I pray you’re right, because if this plan doesn’t work”—Josh undid his seat belt—“I’ll likely be facing the death penalty.”