Chapter Twenty-Five: Confession
Rick continued sitting in the interrogation room two hours later with Rollins and McNeal, going through a series of police mugshots of young men. They were trying to help identify the man Rick had remembered running into when he last saw Jo and Blair at the motel in Oklahoma.
"Is the guy you saw with them?" Rollins asked him, holding up a Polaroid mugshot of Cody Weston.
Rick's eyes widened in sheer recollection as he gazed closely at the photo. He then nodded.
"Yep," he confirmed. "It's him."
Rollins then clapped his hands. "Praise the Lord," he replied. "Oh, happy day."
"They picked up a murderer?! Are they insane?" Rick said out loud.
"Armed robber," Rollins corrected him.
Rick moaned. "Oh, great," he said sarcastically. "That's even better."
"They're flying him right now," McNeal said to Rollins. "He got picked up some time this morning for parole violation and they found about seven grand on him, so there's a possibility he knocked over something while he was there or something. They can drop him on by here for questioning. I'm thrilled."
Wait a sec...seven grand...that's about the same amount I gave to Jo, Rick thought, remembering the phone call Jo had made and her request.
"Hold on, how much did he have?!" Rick asked, whipping his head in Rollins and McNeal's direction.
The dirt road the two women continued driving on seemed like it went on forever. It was quiet as Blair took a look at their surroundings. Looks like we're in the desert, she thought as she then began gazing up towards the sky. The top was down and the air was hot.
"Hey, Blair?" Jo asked her, breaking Blair instantly out of her thoughts.
Blair brought her head down and turned her head towards Jo. "Yeah?" She asked. I hope she's going to try to kiss me or something, she thought hopefully.
"I want you to call Casey," Jo said.
Blair's face fell. Damn it.
"What for?" She asked, making a face.
"To find out if he knows anything, Blair. If you think he does, you gotta hang up the phone because then it means the police told him and the phone probably got tapped."
Blair bit her lip in thought. "Well, what about our parents or Beverly Ann, Tootie and Natalie?"
Jo shook her head. "Nah, too risky. We don't know what they know, quite frankly. For all we know, the police probably tapped their phones, too."
Blair let out a breath of air, blowing some loose hair out of her face.
"Gosh, Jo, tapped the phone? You really think so?"
Jo rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, Blair!" She exclaimed agitatedly. "Murder one and armed robbery!"
"Murder one?" Blair squeaked. "Can't we say it was self-defense?"
Jo gave Blair a look. "Didn't you learn this stuff when you were in law school? It wasn't self-defense. We got away, Blair! We were walkin' away!"
"OK, but they don't know that! It was just you and me there. I'll say he raped me and you had to shoot him! I mean, it's almost the truth, right?"
"Yeah, but it won't work," Jo argued.
"Why not?" Blair asked, puzzled.
"Because we don't have any physical evidence, Blair," Jo told her. "We can't prove he did it. Hell, we probably can't even prove he touched you by now, too."
"The law's quite tricky, isn't it?" Blair mused, frowning. "Makes me wonder why I even decided to study it." She then chuckled wryly, stopping abruptly, when she realized there was something in Jo's statements that gave her pause. How does she know all this stuff? Blair wondered. I didn't know the law fascinated her.
"How do you know about all that stuff anyway, Jo?" Blair asked her curiously.
Jo cleared her throat loudly, choosing to "ignore" Blair's question.
Blair felt a little taken aback, getting the feeling Jo had chosen to purposely ignore Blair's last question. Instead, she only turned to Blair and spoke.
"Besides, what are we gonna say about the robbery?" She asked. "There's no excuse for that. There's no such thing as a justifiable robbery."
Blair scowled, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Where was all of this knowledge when she was trying to help me get into law school? Blair thought crossly. And why is she avoiding my question? I know she heard me.
Blair only rolled her eyes. "Alright, Jo!" She exclaimed in annoyance, blowing out a breath of hot air,
She then sighed. How do I expect to tell her how I really feel about her when she refuses to even answer the smallest of questions?
There was definitely something going on and Blair was insistent on knowing what it was.
Casey sat alone in the lobby of the police building, nervously fidgeting while he sipped from a Styrofoam cup full of hot coffee. He had been waiting anxiously for forty-five minutes after being summoned by Rollins and McNeal as to what to do next after the police had arrived to tap his phone lines.
As he sipped, to his surprise, he saw two officers lead a young, lanky and rugged man down the hall in handcuffs with Rollins and McNeal following behind them.
Who the hell is that? Casey thought curiously. He gave McNeal and Rollins both questioning looks but got no response as the group all went inside an interrogation room and quickly shut the door.
Casey groaned. When the fuck am I gonna get some information here? He thought impatiently.
"Hey! Hey!" He shouted, pounding on the door.
McNeal and Rollins both ignored the pounding as they sat Cody Weston down in a chair.
"Who's the crazy nut?" Cody asked.
"That would be Blair Warner's boyfriend," Rollins informed him.
Cody bowed his head, muttering to himself. "Jesus," he muttered.
Rollins only narrowed his eyes at him. He then motioned to a police officer in plainclothes to bring him the VCR and tape.
Afterwards, they all watched the footage of Blair in the store.
"Hey, she did good. She did real good, didn't she?" Cody asked, smiling smugly, pleased with himself.
Rollins only gave Cody a long, hard look. "Well, young man, I'd say she's doing a damn sight better than you right now," he remarked. "How do you know her?"
Cody shrugged. "She's a friend," he lied.
"Where did you get 7k in cash?" McNeal asked Cody. "We spoke to a gentleman today who says he personally delivered about very close to that same amount to a Mrs. Joanna Bonner. Do you know her, too?"
"Yeah, I do know her. She was driving," he said.
"The gentleman we spoke to said he took the money to a motel in Oklahoma City," Rollins told him. "Also said he met a man and identified you through a series of mugshots. He said he noticed you and Miss Warner seemed pretty "close". That true?"
Cody grinned smugly as he remembered his close encounter with Blair. Even though the two had never gotten to have sex, Cody still had the images of Blair's golden hair, smooth, tanned skin and her short, silk nightgown she'd worn to bed that night to last him a lifetime.
"Yeah...I guess you could say we had a meeting of the minds, yes," he remarked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. It made Rollins feel almost sick to his stomach.
"Did you know that Mrs. Bonner and Miss Warner are both wanted in connection with a murder?" McNeal informed him.
Cody's face fell. "Wait...huh...what?" he asked, surprise evident in his voice.
"Did either of them ever indicate to you that they might be running from the law?" Rollins asked.
Cody's face turned almost ghost white. "Uh...now that you mention it...yeah, I guess you could say they both seemed a little jumpy," he replied.
Rollins scowled deeply at Cody. "You know what? You're really starting to irritate the hell outta me," he replied.
"Yeah, me, too," McNeal chimed in.
Rollins turned to McNeal and then back to Cody thoughtfully. "Do you mind if I have a quick word with this young man?" He asked. "It will only be a minute."
McNeal nodded, agreeing. He then opened the door and he and the other officers left the room.
After everyone had left, Rollins turned to face Cody, giving him a cold, steely look.
"What? What'd I do?" Cody asked, shifting in his seat uncomfortably.
Rollins sat on the table in front of Cody, continuing to glare at him. "Kid, I got this feeling and I just want to ask your opinion on the matter," he replied, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "But tell me this and be honest...do you think Blair Warner would have committed armed robbery if you hadn't taken all their money?"
Cody didn't answer. Instead, he only glanced down at his feet.
"What's the matter, son? Cat got your tongue?" Rollins taunted.
"Well, how do you know I took it?" Cody countered. "How do you know they didn't just give it to me?"
Rollins scowled, slamming his hand down the table so hard, it made Cody jump.
"Oh, cut the shit!" He roared, his face suddenly turning a bright red. "Cut it! There's two girls out there that had a chance! A real chance! And you blew it for 'em! Now they've gotten into some real serious trouble! Very serious trouble and for at least part of it, I'm gonna be holding you personally responsible for anything that happens to them. Now, I don't give a damn what happens to you but I may be the only person in the world who gives a rat's ass what happens to them and you're either gonna tell me everything you know so there's a small chance I can actually try to do some good for them or I'm gonna be on you like a fly on shit for the rest of your miserable, fucking life. Your misery is gonna be my mission in life and that's a promise."
Rollins then walked over to the door and opened it, letting McNeal and the other police officers back in.
"Now, just so you know, you violated your parole three days out. And you know how Judge Davis is. He hates this sort of thing. Once he gets wind of this, he's gonna blow his top. And when he hears that you're a possible accessory to murder and armed robbery...well...I think we all know what's gonna happen then, don't we? Your ass will be placed right back in the slammer for at least the remaining seven years, don't you agree?"
McNeal chuckled. "Oh, definitely," he agreed, nodding his head.
Cody sighed, the smug and boastful look he sported several minutes ago, long wiped off his face. He only nodded, looking defeated. "Okay. Is somebody gonna write this down?" he asked, ready for his confession.
Rollins nodded, this time, his face looking smug. "Absolutely," he replied. "And make it quick. I have a meeting with someone else tonight."