Adam [BOOK ONE]

IX

Somehow I ended up outside with Ray as the two officers inside were questioning Adam and Dr. Baker. He was working on a cigarette, taking deep puffs and blowing them into the wind. It was a quiet evening, the trees blowing with a light breeze and the sound of birds chirping into the wind giving the earth a calm feeling. The calm before the storm.

"Have you gotten anywhere in the case?"

He sighed, "we can connect him to the chick and the kid, but we can't put him at the crime scene. Now we got these weird 'supporters' coming out of no-fucking-where. I honestly wish this case would just have stayed closed."

"Supporters?"

"Georgie was a fucked up kid, too much money and free time. He beat the hell out of a couple of chicks, wrecked more cars than I can fucking count and the law never really caught up to him. I guess that's the benefit of being a rich fuck. Do you what you want whenever you want."

"Someone caught up to him though," I said quietly.

"Yeah, and if we're lucky, loco will squeal. I know his type, get overwhelmed and they'll squeal on their own fucking brother. If he didn't do it, I don't know what Desmond is going to do. Probably go into hiding again."

"Hiding? That's a sound way to solve your problems."

He clicked his teeth, "it was his only son. He knew Georgie was a got damn problem, but he saw past it. Children blind us. Still, he should have put a fucking muzzle instead of just paying his way free. He knew what kind of fucking son he had."

Ray took another puff of his cigarette before looking down at me, "you want to go out to dinner sometime? Me, you, a little wine could really get something started."

He smiled. He was nice enough, handsome enough, but I had no interest in being with a man who referred to Adam as 'loco'. Not to mention he was an older man and the stink that his cigarettes would bring to everything.

"Let me think about it."

"Take all the time you need sweetheart," he winked.

"Chief," one of the officers called out, "he says he's innocent and he has an alibi."

"Got damn, is it reliable."

"He says he was staying with a friend, someone named Andre. We could go talk to him, but I don't know. It seems like we're chasing fish in the air here. So what, he was related to the people who died, Georgie fucked a whole boatload of people over. It's not the first time he's hurt, someone. I say we go back to the drawing board, there are a shit ton of rich people who would love to have Georgie's neck."

I let out a breath of relief.

"No, he knows more than he's letting on. Why the fuck did he disappear then? Spend all that time in a mental hospital just because?"

"For fuck's sake, he lost his wife and child. He probably went off the deep end, all I'm saying is fuck whatever personal beef you have with mental patients and let's try to see if there are actual answers out there. I just can't see him doing what happened to Georgie. Son of a bitch was unrecognizable, that guy in there just doesn't fit the profile."

I didn't say anything. I was confused, were they just about to walk away and let this case slip back into the cold. I thought about Adam and Dr. Baker who were still in the house, who were probably scared half to death and trying to figure out what was happening outside. I wanted to tell them we were safe, I wanted to take some weight off of Adam's shoulders.

"Have you questioned her," All eyes fell on me and my body tensed.

Ray shook his head, "she just met him a couple of weeks ago, I doubt he even said a few words. This is the whole thing is just fucking weird. I guess this case is going back into the cold stack. Sad story, but sometimes karma is just too much to handle. Let's get back to the station, formulate a press release, and try to bury this thing. The last thing we need is Desmond Phillips, still on our asses."