Chapter 17—Both Sides Against the Middle

A/N: Thanks everybody for being patient with me. Looks like I'll be able to turn my attention back to writing. I do appreciate everyone's kind comments and reviews.

Delko walked tiredly into the morgue. "Hey, Alexx. Got your text. So you confirmed that the Benadryl had something to do with Eric Miller's accident."

Alexx stood at the head of the pale, sleeping meteorologist. With a gloved hand she opened his left eye. "Pupils were dilated. Although the high level of Benadryl wasn't what killed our weatherman, it was certainly a major contributor. He had cerebellar exogenic ataxia, meaning his peripheral nervous system and his judgment were impaired by something else in his system. In this case it was the Benadryl. He didn't have the rush of adrenaline before he died. That means his brain didn't sense the danger. "

Delko furrowed his eyebrows. "We looked at the car. Eric Miller applied the brake just before the crash. In fact it looks like he stepped on it three or four times."

"He might have applied the brake, but that was probably his subconscious reacting to the curve in the road. Did he ever try to use the emergency brake or move the steering wheel?"

"No. We looked at the crime scene photos and the car. It looks like he hit the brake, and then he swung the steering wheel. He didn't try to use the emergency brake or anything else. He might have been able to stop if he'd used his emergency brake or at least shut off his engine."

Alexx's ponytail bobbed side to side as she shook her head. "But his peripheral nervous system was numbed. His subconscious took over, but it wasn't enough." With a gloved hand she caressed the man's black hair. "That Benadryl really messed you up, Sweetie."

Delko nodded with a resolve. "Thanks, Alexx."

Tyler looked up from the keyboard as Delko walked in. "Hey."

"No priors on this Jerry Lynch, huh?"

Tyler shook his head. "Nope. Squeaky clean. Not even a parking ticket. Emmie swept most of Melissa Matherson's deleted emails."

Delko raised his eyebrows and smiled. "Emmie's working? From the hospital?"

Tyler smiled at him. "Yeah. Wolfe took the spare laptop to Punta Gorda. I talked to her about an hour ago. She's working from her hospital bed. I'm not too good with this kind of cyberforensics, so she's been sweeping from that end."

"How's she doing?"

Tyler shrugged. "Heavy on the pain killers, but she says she's bored."

Delko chuckled tiredly. "Yeah, that sounds like Emmie. What did she find?"

The main monitor came to life as Tyler clicked the mouse. "At first it looked like Melissa Matherson was telling the truth when she said this guy was stalking her. Here's one of his first emails from ten months ago. Starts off innocent."

Dear Miss Matherson:
I would like to let you know that I enjoy your weather forecasting. It's nice to see a fresh face on WTVM.

"But it looks like classic cyberstalking. About eight months ago his emails started to get pretty raunchy. Here's another one."

Dear Melissa
I just thought I'd let you know that I loved that white dress you were wearing. I closed my eyes and imagined reaching under that tight skirt and sliding my hand all the way up those creamy thighs. I could see those red panties under your suit.

Delko shook his head as he read more of the steamy email. "Yeah, this guy was watching her, and it had nothing to do with the weather."

Tyler raised his eyebrows as he clicked on another email. "It gets better. He sent this one just a few months ago."

Hi Melissa.
I'd like to congratulate you on your pregnancy. But at the same time I'm very hurt. You see, for a long time I've fantasized about making a baby with you. I wanted to be the one to hold you naked in my arms and let you feel me inside you.

Delko sniffed in disgust as he read on. "So when Melissa got pregnant, this guy went off the deep end. You said at first glance it looked like he was stalking her. What's that mean?"

Tyler raised his eyebrows. "I guess Melissa decided to make friends with this guy. Emmie dug this one up from two months ago."

Dear Jerry
Give me a call. This is my phone number. And don't feel too bad. The guy is a real pig. I wish I never let him put his hands on me.

Delko raised his eyebrows. "So he wasn't just a stalker."

Tyler clicked the mouse again. "Melissa Matherson's cell phone records. She's been calling Jerry Lynch at his work place. They talked for about half an hour here, after she sent him this email. Then they talked for about fifteen minutes at lunch time." He clicked keys again. Oh, and then there's another email. I guess she thought once she deleted these, they were gone."

Hi Jerry
The bastard lied to me! Right now I'm so mad. The only reason I came to this damn swamp of a city is because he said he'd take care of me. I wish I could've stayed in Houston. Said he'd give me a job and everything. I hate it. I hate Miami. Nobody talks to me here.
I don't have the money yet. Looks like I'm on my own. He came out and told me he wasn't going to leave her. I told him he promised me, but then he just laughed at me. He called me a stupid little tart. I reminded him that we had a baby together. He said it probably wasn't his.
I promise, I'll pay you when I get the money, okay?

"So I guess they got to be good friends" Delko noted.

"Then there was this one."

My dearest Melissa
The bastard's not gonna get away with what he did to you. He tried to hurt you twice. First it was your brother, and now you. I guess because he got off on that murder charge he thinks he's bulletproof.
Come on over for dinner tonight. I've been having dreams about you again.
I'll take care of him. He'll never hurt you or anybody else ever again. I promise.
If you stay with me, you'll never be lonely again. I'll take care of you and be a good father to your baby.

Delko furrowed his eyebrows. "When was this one?"

"Two weeks ago. You're not gonna believe where this guy works."

"Try me."

Tyler clicked the mouse again.

Delko smirked. "The Giant Genie Pharmacy. Doesn't Eric Miller get his Allegra there?"

"So does Melissa Matherson."

Calleigh's green eyes glanced between the brown case file and the short, brown-haired woman in the orange Miami-Dade jumpsuit.

"You lied to us, Melissa" she said firmly. "You never told us you and Jerry Lynch were close."

"I didn't lie to you about a thing" she insisted quietly. She knew that the tears wouldn't work this time. "He's crazy! He was stalking me!"

Calleigh slid pieces of paper in front of the woman. She glanced down at them. "What's that?"

"We retrieved your emails from the databanks at WTVM. Those are emails that you and Jerry Lynch sent back and forth. And these are your cell phone records. You called Jerry Lynch and spoke to him on the dates I highlighted. So about the time Eric Miller stopped paying you, you decided to make friends with your stalker."

Melissa dipped her head and looked at the CSI. "Where did you get those?"

Calleigh never changed her expression. "Cyberforensics. We have a trained expert who can retrieve emails that were deleted up to fifteen years ago. Now at the moment you're being charged with extortion. If you don't want to be charged with murder and conspiracy, I suggest you start talking. You might get out in time to see your baby in elementary school."

Melissa looked down numbly. "I guess you could say Robert Creech—"

"Eric Miller" Calleigh corrected.

"Yeah. Was leading a double life. He moved me to Houston. When we found out I was pregnant, he swore he was gonna leave his wife." She turned and sniffed. "God, what a liar. So here I was in Miami with no family and no friends. In a fit of stupidity I tracked down Jerry Lynch. We talked. He said he'd dug up some dirt on Eric."

"Does this have anything to do with a Mark Matherson who died in Colorado?"

She closed her eyes painfully. "Look, I know what you're talking about. That was my brother. Jerry Lynch thought Eric Miller was the same Robert Creech who was acquitted in that lawsuit."

"Melissa, Jerry Lynch said in one of his emails to you that he'd take care of him. Was he talking about Eric Miller?"

"Yeah. I tried to tell him he was making a mistake. That was the wrong guy. He didn't believe me."

"You said in another one of your emails that you didn't have the money yet. Care to explain?"

Melissa averted her eyes now.

"Melissa? Why were you paying Jerry Lynch?"

She dipped her eyes now. She had come to a dead end. "I want an attorney now."