If It Walks Like A Killer (The Carolina Killer Files #1) (24 page)

Chapter Forty-One

Rachael

Rachael sat on the corner of Abby’s bed, waiting for her cellmate to return. It was Saturday, and Abby always called home to talk to her children on Saturdays. Rachael knew that her fifteen minutes would be up soon and she’d grown to look forward to hearing about the phone calls. Sure enough, she heard the buzz that meant someone was headed down her hallway. Shortly after, Abby appeared in the doorway, followed by Officer Eden. Her grin was contagious. As the officer opened the door, she ran and launched herself onto the bunk.

“So, how are they?” Rachael asked.

“They’re great. Malakye is doing so well with his spelling words and Cody finally passed that science test.” She touched her chest. “I miss them so much it’s unfair.”

Rachael nodded. “Why are you in here so much anyway? You never told me.”

Abby sighed. “Basically I just got involved with the wrong people. It started out as rebellious teenage stuff. I mean, I met this guy when I was in high school and just fell head over heels from him. His name is Simon, but everyone calls him Fig. We got married when I was nineteen and he moved us to Boston to help his friend start a record label. A year later, their little company tanked and we moved home to live with my parents while I finished my degree. Fig picked up odd jobs, but it was my career that ended up buying us a house. Another two years later Fig started taking ‘business’ trips back up to Boston.”

She closed her eyes, shaking her head. “He started coming back with cash. He told me business was picking back up and I believed him. I don’t know why. Maybe I just wanted so badly for him to be telling the truth. In the end, I found out the truth. He’d been selling for months, maybe years. I wanted to tell, I swear I wanted to turn him in. I begged him to stop. We had this huge fight and he left. I didn’t see him for two months. Eventually though, money got tight, bills were due and I had become accustomed to his extra, however illegitimate, income. I called him to come back. I wanted no part of the business, just for things to go back to normal. Once I knew, of course, it could never go back to normal. After a while of being around it, it became our new normal, then it became acceptable, finally it seemed right. I started going with him to Boston, picking up shipments. I even helped him sell a few times. Like they always do, eventually our empire crumbled. We’d built a good life on our dirty money, but once he was caught everything was seized. In court, they revealed he’d killed over debts, something I’d been in the dark about. Turns out, he’d killed a teenager.”

She had tears in her eyes as she spoke of it, her lips quivering. “Some dumb kid who owed him money. A couple hundred bucks. They had nothing connecting me to the murders because Fig had never told me about them. He knew I would’ve called it off if I’d known. For me, it was just good money. I never got so deep into how it all worked like he did. So, they charged me as an accessory to the drug charges, I went away for four years. Fig got life. He never forgave me.”

“But you got put back in? After you were released?”

Abby nodded. “A year after I was released a guy came over and asked to use my phone. He said his car had broken down. The next day the cops busted in my house with a search warrant. They found drugs in the drawer beneath our phone. Convenient, right? Of course, that violated my probation so I was back in jail. Three years later I was out again. That’s when I met Will, my husband. We got married. I was pregnant with Cody the next time the cops came to my house. There was a pound of marijuana taped to the bottom of my car. Fig has been sending his guys after me ever since. This is the first time in about five years.”

“That’s it? Why don’t you just move away?”

“Fig isn’t stupid. His plans are clever, they always catch me off guard. We moved to Georgia once and he found me within six months. I refuse to keep uprooting my life, to keep uprooting my children’s lives because of a stupid mistake. If he continues to come after me, I’ll continue to fight him every step of the way. I’ll spend the time that I’m not locked up enjoying it with my children.” She looked at Rachael and chuckled. “I know I sound completely mental.”

Rachael remained silent, a sad smile on her face.

“You just become accustomed to things, you know? Anything can become normal to you. Honestly I was just tired of feeling helpless, I wanted to take charge of my life however I could.”

“You shouldn’t have to become accustomed to being arrested for a crime you didn’t commit. That’s ridiculous. There’s nothing anyone can do?”

“You just don’t get it. It all comes down to my past. I get these free attorneys who don’t know or care about my side of the story, half the time they don’t even know my name.”

“That’s what our legal system has been reduced to?”

“Aren’t you seeing that first hand? People decide if you are guilty long before you ever step foot in court.”

Rachael thought back to her experience these past few weeks: the rudeness of the cops, the heartless stare of the jury. “You’re right. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?”

“It died. Along with chivalry and Pac Man.” She laughed, laying her head back onto the wall.

“It’s not fair,” Rachael said.

“You going to try and call your family again today?”

Rachael shrugged, trying not to look as pathetic as she felt. “I’ve called them five times already. They never answer.”

“So try again. That’s all you can do.”

Rachael sighed, standing up. She walked to her cell door. “Wish me luck.”

***

Brinley

Today is Saturday. Bubba and I are sitting on the floor watching Power Rangers. Daddy is somewhere in the kitchen, probably cooking us breakfast. If it’s eggs it will probably be too runny, but anything else will be burnt. Daddy’s food never tastes like Momma’s. She always puts ketchup in my eggs, which I love. Daddy doesn’t remember.

Then, right before Ivan Ooze breaks out of his egg, I hear our phone ringing. The rules are I’m not supposed to answer the phone and I’m not supposed to talk to strangers. I know the rules but the phone keeps on ringing and Daddy isn’t coming to get it. I walk toward the couch, by the phone. If it rings one more time I’ll answer it. It does.

“Hello?”

“Brinley?” Someone says my name. I think it’s my Momma.

“Momma?” I ask. I just know I’ll get into trouble now.

Instead of being mad, she says, “Yes, baby. It’s me. It’s Momma. Oh, I miss you so much. It’s so good to hear your voice.”

I’m so happy to talk to her too, but I’m sad because Dad told me she’s away helping my uncle and she never even told me bye.

“I miss you, Mommy. Come home please,” I say to her, because I really wish she would.

“Soon baby. I will soon. What have you been doing? Have you been a good girl for Daddy? How is Davis?”

“I’ve been helping Corie with Bubba a lot. We’ve been having fun but I want you to come home.”

“I know, love. Has Corie been there a lot? Where has your dad been?”

“In bed. He sleeps a lot now. He’s here though. I think he’s making us breakfast.”

“Breakfast? Brin, it’s almost noon.”

“I told you he sleeps a lot.” I giggle.

“Did he take your brother to get his cast off last week?” Mom sounds mad.

“I don’t think so.”

“Well, does he still have his cast on?”

“Umm,” I say, because I don’t remember. I drop the phone on the couch and run back to see his leg. He does. I run back over to the phone to tell Mom and then I see Dad coming out of the kitchen.

“Mom’s on the phone,” I yell.

My Daddy looks at me. “Who answered the phone?”

I look around, wondering if I can blame Davis. Before I can answer, my dad picks up the phone from the couch and puts it on his ear.

“Rachael?”

Then, before he says anything else he just puts the phone back on the holder and hangs up. “She was already gone.”

I don’t tell him I know he’s telling a lie. I don’t tell him I heard my mommy say his name back before he hung up. Instead, I go to the kitchen and sit down at my chair. My tummy is growling. Grownups are so weird.

Chapter Forty-Two

Hampton

Argus Hampton’s body was filled with dread as he pulled up to Shayna Steele’s office. He’d been quiet the whole drive over, rehearsing silently how they were going to have this conversation. Rachael had been quiet too, seeming to be lost in her own deep thoughts.

He absentmindedly pulled open her door and led her into the lobby.

“Well.” She turned to him, waving good morning to the red headed secretary.

God, what is her name?

“I guess I’ll see you at four.”

“Actually,” Hampton said softly, “I’ll be joining you for your session today.”

Surprise filled her eyes. “You will?”

“We have a few things we need to discuss. Shayna thought it’d be best if we all sat down together.”

“Bad news?” Rachael looked defeated.

“Depends on how you look at it.” Hampton shrugged his shoulders, looking toward the door as Shayna stepped out. Hampton recognized the remorse in her eyes that he’d seen in his own mirror that morning.

“Good morning, Rachael, Hampton.” She smiled. “Come on in.”

Hampton walked into the office, realizing then that he’d never gotten a good look inside before. He chose a pink couch to sit on and seated himself uncomfortably on the edge. He cleared his throat as Rachael took a seat cattycorner from him, followed by Shayna who sat in the chair directly across from her.

“Now, Rachael, as you can see this session is going to be slightly different. We have a lot to go over in a very short amount of time so we need you to listen carefully.” Shayna paused, glancing in Hampton’s direction. He nodded, mentally willing her to go on.

“Some of this is going to be hard for you to hear, some of it you won’t want to believe, but all of it is important and it’s important that you know what we’ve learned over the past few weeks.”

Rachael nodded, her expression hard to read.

“First things first, Rachael, after the past four weeks of sessions, I’m sorry, but I was unable to successfully diagnose you with DID.”

When Rachael was silent, Shayna continued. “After listening to you and seeing you daily, it’s obvious to me that you are clearly in your right mind. I’ve seen no signs that would lead me to believe you are not completely healthy and stable.”

“How can you say that? We still have two weeks left. You said you’d do everything you could for me.” Rachael covered her mouth, breathing heavily in shock.

“Rachael, I need you to stay calm. I’m not saying I’ve given up on you, quite the opposite in fact. That’s why we’re here. Hampton and I have been working on a theory for the past week and we finally think we are ready to tell you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“We think we’ve found something to save you,” Hampton spoke up, he’d been waiting to use that line. Rachael’s eyes lit up at him, though her face contained no smile.

“Look, in order for us to tell you, you’ll have to be open-minded. We’ve sifted through this theory over and over again, making sure we had it figured out before we brought it to you but we’ve hit a stopping point. We need your help with the rest, Rachael. It’s time that we filled you in.”

Rachael nodded. “If it’s going to save me, it can’t be that bad.”

People who work retail know they can never brag about how slow their store had been or else the entire town will stop in all at once. Brides know never to brag about how pretty the weather will be on their wedding day, else it just may come a flood. Hampton was a firm believer in jinxes, and Rachael Abbott had just jinxed herself.

He grimaced at her hopeful face.
It can be that bad. It can be worse.

***

Rachael

Rachael watched anxiously as Argus flipped through a stack of papers in the manila folder on his lap.

Shayna spoke first. “Rachael, the other day I asked you about Caide’s affair, if you’d known about it. Do you remember what you told me?”

Oh God. Oh no.
“I told you no.” Rachael’s heart pounded loudly in her chest.

“Is that true?”

“Of course it’s true. Why would I lie?” Rachael asked, forcing a convincing smile.

Shayna looked to Hampton and then back again, before saying almost apologetically, “Maybe you think admitting you knew about the affair gives you a motive, maybe you thought we’d stop believing you.”

When Rachael was silent, Shayna went on. “Rachael, one of the most important things they teach you when you study psychology is how to detect a lie, how to know when someone is consciously lying to you, how to tell when a child was coached on their testimony. It’s one of, if not the most, important parts of my job. When you told me that you didn’t know about the affair, your body language told me, very clearly, that you weren’t being truthful.”

She paused, Rachael pressed her lips together, holding in the one secret that had held her family together for all of these years.

“Honey, we can’t help you if you won’t tell us what’s going on.”

Rachael sighed, conscious of her betraying body language. “Well, I mean, what wife hasn’t suspected her husband of cheating at some point, right? He works long hours, we aren’t always happy, so of course it’s crossed my mind, but there was never proof. It’s always been just mindless worry that I knew would do nothing more than incriminate me further. If there had been more, of course I would’ve told you. There was nothing to tell.” She smiled, praying to be believed.

“That’s what you want me to believe? That’s all there is?”

“That’s the truth,” She said firmly.
Well, that’s my truth.

***

Hampton

Hampton tapped his pen on his yellow legal pad, his heart flitting from fear. “All right, Rachael, before we get into the research I’ve done I need to tell you what sparked the past weeks’ chain of events. I’m not going to lie to you, the first couple of weeks I’ve run into dead end after dead end, nothing was adding up and there was nothing I could find to help you. Then, two weeks ago, I turned on the TV and saw Caide. There’s really no easy way to tell you this, but he has withdrawn his support from your case. Publicly.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s come forward telling the press that he no longer believes you are innocent. He no longer plans to back you in court and—” He paused, looking down at his paperwork.

“Hampton, go on,” Shayna urged, “She needs to hear it.”

“He doesn’t want your kids to speak to or see you. Rachael, I know this must be hard for you to hear, but it’s important that you have all of the facts. I’ve tried calling him, I’ve asked him to visit or at least call you, but he’s refusing.”

She began hyperventilating, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “You’ve known this all along? You didn’t tell me anything? You’ve just let me keep calling, keep feeling like I was letting my family down by not calling when they’re home, when you’ve known all along that they’re just ignoring me? My own husband doesn’t believe me anymore? Doesn’t believe in me. What happened to everything he said about me in court? How I’m a good person, how he loves me? He’s just taking it all back? Just kidding? Why? How could he do this to me? What kind of a person does this to their wife?”

Hampton swallowed, the words leaving his mouth before he’d planned for them to. “The kind of person who frames his wife for murder.”