Without a price
Chapter 10
A Lucky shut off the television and VCR and was preparing to leave his cell phone rang, although he did not know this until the second ring. The shuffling of things had blocked the sound until then and immediately he reached into his pocket to find it by impulse. He answered the call after quickly glancing at the caller ID, saying" What's up Em?"
Emily was not sure quite what to say, how to describe the situation she found herself in, but she managed to start out the usual way somehow. "A lot apparently," Emily said directly, adding an annoyed tone because she felt that way. "Do you have time to meet me tonight?" She requested of him, unsure of how to handle the present circumstances at this point but she figured that was a good place to start.
"Is it important?" Lucky asked, "I really do need some sleep." He was not lying about this and unmistakably heard Emily mutter something on the other end- what he believed to be some sarcastic remark like "like you are the only one".
"I suppose it can wait for the morning," Emily considered, knowing she was pushing it as it is. It was a little after the end of business hours and people were probably or had already headed home. She should be doing that too but she did not think she will be doing that tonight, whether she meets with Lucky or not. She didn't want to wait for the morning but she guessed that she had no other choice so she replied "I'll just come by the station tomorrow."
"The station," Lucky asked quickly, forgetting about his sleep plans in a flash. A deep hope was buried in his head that it had to do with the case he was and had been working on for weeks. "Is it about Murphy's murder?" Okay, so maybe he was jumping ahead and was probably wrong but he had been wrong about a lot of things, why would one more incorrect question or answer be any different? Lucky was desperate for another lead, anything! If it was a bad one so be it, but it was a lead!
Emily decided to be direct and straight to the point since Lucky's question was right on and because she told him that she was there at the scene of the crime. He would have known through the extensive name list of the people present anyway. "Yes, it's about Murphy's murder. One of the suspects you think did it to be exact."
"I thought you didn't know anymore about the shooting. You said that you did not really have anything to add. As far as I can see you have no importance to the case, not as a witness anyway." Lucky told her, very much confused, though she did help sort the files…
"I thought so too until tonight." Emily responded bitterly before sighing. "Listen, I'll have to explain it to you fully later but if you look at the suspect files you will find one under Adelaide."
Lucky surprisingly did not have to look too far, for he found that he was looking right at it. This Adelaide was the suspect he was looking at in the video tapes from the motel. "Yeah, I have it right here." He told her and grew suspicious of her behavior, and wondered why Adelaide mattered to her- until it hit him. "You mean it was you who visited him at the motel?"
Emily was confused for a brief moment. Motel, what motel? Oh, the motel Vincent had stayed in for the first two nights he was here… but how did he know that she visited his room? This took Emily a second longer to answer until she remembered the cameras that circled the parking lot, which must have been taken by the police department. They probably now thought she was some kind of accomplice. Lovely, she thought cynically.
There was no way she could deny that claim though. She'd have to deal with that portion of it when the time came. "Yes, that was me and I will get to explaining that soon enough, just right now look at the back of the file for contact information." She instructed Lucky who shifted through the file and found it.
He did not have a clue what that was supposed to mean or what he was supposed to look for but he located it and looked at it nonetheless. Emily was not one to be so serious and be joking so she probably had a very good excuse for telling him to do this so he gave her the benefit of the doubt and indeed found something.
"You have got to be kidding me," Lucky said on the phone, not really realizing that Emily was on the other line when he said it because he believed that he did not think the thought out loud. He did, however, so he continued going into the subject "You said-"
"I know what I said Lucky!" Emily exclaimed, obviously frustrated with this whole mess, doing her best to stay in control. After she took a few deep breaths, she went on to say "That was the reason why I was at the club, okay? I was meeting him there."
Lucky made the connection after Emily's reply. "He didn't shoot the police officer, did he?" Lucky asked in order to verify his gut feeling on how this conversation was going to end-he empty handed but one suspect down.
"No, I was with him when the shooting took place. Both of us ran to the place it happened at out of curiosity after the deed was done." Emily explained, adding "besides, he doesn't even own a gun."
"Then what was the argument about at the motel? You sure left in a hurry." Lucky questioned her, starting to feel the strain Emily was on even though part of it was because he felt kind of betrayed. He didn't know if he should though-even the best of friends have secrets.
He and Emily were not any different and he in turn had some secrets that he never told Emily. It wasn't that he didn't trust her; it was just not easy to talk about, much less admit. It was probably the same way with Emily. These thoughts were for another day though, so he put a clamp on them and tuned in just in time to hear her response.
"That night we were discussing a totally different topic. I didn't even know he was considered a suspect at the time." If that was true, then the issue would have to be coming up now, Lucky figured.
"You are really going to have to explain this all to me Em," Lucky stressed, trying to connect the pieces and failing miserably. He was missing too many pieces of the story so the only likely result would be a headache, a migraine at the worst.
"Thus the meeting idea Lucky," Emily commented, annoyed by his reaction that was already well pronounced by her continued emphasis on "explanations later".
"Well, now that you have got me intrigued, I do not think I am going to sleep tonight," Lucky replied, his agitation obvious then realized having two agitated, sleep deprived people would not be good so he quickly reformed the accusation. Emily obviously had more of a right to be agitated than him, besides there was time for that later. "Can you meet me at my apartment? As far as anyone is concerned it will just be two friends hanging out." The last thing he wanted are his neighbors gossiping to the police about their meeting- not that he really talked to them anyway or expected them to be guessing their discussion topic. It was just a precaution he felt he needed to take.
"Yeah, I'll be there when I can." Emily agreed as she slammed the driver seat door and started her SUV. Who knew what the traffic would be like?
"Okay," Lucky replied just before he disconnected the call, truly wanting this whole mess to be cleared up. He just hoped he could separate the information given him. Some of it was obviously only for his own ears, other stuff just for the professional cop he was eight hours or more a day.
True to her word, Emily was surprisingly prompt, just arriving at his apartment building a few minutes after he did. They skipped the usual greetings after Emily knocked on his door, both wanting to get at least a few hours of sleep tonight. Some very vital hours of sleep for Emily, he decided as she did not look well but he did not tell her this because it would have been impractical given the circumstances. She was not expected to look well at this point, being pushed well beyond her limit though she would never admit it to him or herself.
After they settled down at a table in order to give more space to place certain and important documents that would help them sort out Emily's mess, and partly his too. He and Emily both brought them, for either their usefulness as evidence or just speculation about the case itself. First of all though, they took care of Adelaide's suspected involvement in the case. It did not take long because Emily explained his innocence on the phone.
Lucky pulled out the five page list of names that were at the bar at the night of the shooting. Emily's and Vincent's were there and Lucky did believe they were there together, especially at the time of the shooting. Emily said that they fought often, just like in the motel and the bar, making them more than preoccupied at the time of the shooting. His suspect status was more based on circumstance than evidence anyway. It was the speculation where they got somewhere.
They were going over the list of evidence, or rather lack of it, when Emily made a vital point. "This whole case has a little too perfect set up if you ask me."
Lucky was deep in thought when she said it but still heard it, asking "what do you mean?" for clearance of the evidence of such a suggestion.
"I mean that everything is too circumstantial. The bar and its regulars are well known to be of ill repute so you could probably guess they were lying, drunk or taken for it at least. The type of gun and its ammo is common enough and the gun is nowhere to be found, probably taken to the killer's home and hidden. The shot came from a shadowed corner so that no one could probably see a face." Emily explained, then stating her own conclusion. "Whoever did this planned the whole thing. It wasn't just a random shooting that we are so use to hearing about."
Lucky frowned, seeing her point. "You're right. Not only was it planned but the killer knew exactly what to do to not get caught." Lucky sighed, rubbing his eyes before he looked back at Adelaide's file. "Didn't you say that Adelaide was not exactly considered smart?"
"No, he barely breezed through high school and only retains his math and history skills to this day." Emily told him. "He could have never planned something like this."
"Then neither could any of the other suspects. We are overestimating these past criminals' intelligence and ability to plan something this big." Lucky concluded. "Like you said, this is not just a random police shooting or a repeat offender. This investigation has been going in the wrong direction from the beginning. The question is why?"
"Maybe it is being sabotaged from the inside, the police and legal department that is," Emily guessed.
"An inside job," Lucky considered the possibility. "Then that means that whoever did this is a detective or police officer, or any of the higher positions in either department? The people I work with everyday?"
"Well, unless you have another idea…yes." Emily said simply, which revealed a lot, more than what either one of them was expecting.
Author's note: School starts on Monday so updates will be hard to get up but at least I got two done during this school vacation-that's some progress in the story. For some reason spring semesters seem to be better for me though so maybe you will see an update more often than last semester. Then again, I only know what two things of the semester bring-a thesis proposal I have to write and a mapping project that I have to do in lieu of a class that I normally would have to take if I was not acrophobic. I am however. In any case, just know I will try updating as much as I can. I really am forever in thanks of your patience-I know I am horrible with updates and I feel so guilty about that but the circumstances are what they are and all you can do is work them the way you think best.