Page 21

Angus set the stack of papers down on the table and took a seat across from Mel Wickman and his attorney. "Sorry, that took a little longer than expected. It took us a bit longer while we tracked down the autobody shop where you'd dropped off your car earlier today."

Mel glared at Angus.

"Let's get on with this." Mel's attorney leaned forward. "You've held my client long enough."

Angus smiled. "Of course. Does your client wish to admit to killing Dawn Belamy and save us a ton of time, or are we going to play games and sit here for hours?"

"I didn't kill anyone." Mel sighed.

His attorney gently touched Mel's arm. "What are the charges?"

"Let's keep this simple and just lay it all out here. Currently, we are charging Mr. Wickman with vehicular homicide and assault. Once lab work comes back, we'll be adding rape and numerous other charges. We believe that on the night in question, Mr. Wickman stopped at a rest stop with Ms. Belamy. There he attacked, beat, and raped her. It's unclear what happened next, but shortly after they left the rest stop, Ms. Belamy ended up being hit by Mr. Wickman's car and left for dead on the side of the road."

"What evidence do you have of any of this?" the attorney asked.

"I didn't hurt Dawn!" Mel yelled.

"But you admit to going to the casino with her?" Angus asked.

"Quiet," Mel's attorney warned Mel. "Again, what evidence do you have that my client was even with Ms. Belamy?"

Franks pushed the door open and entered the interrogation room. He sat down as he handed Angus a stack of printed photos.

"Thanks." Angus gave Franks a smile. "Let's start with surveillance images from the casino. I'll keep it simple for now, but I can give you a minute-by-minute commentary about Dawn and Mel's night if you'd like. Here they are at the casino. We have surveillance video of the two of them that run for several hours as they sit at the blackjack table and play slot machines. We have video of their arrival at the casino, and them leaving." He set the images one by one on the table in front of Mel. "Once they left the casino to return home, we have several images of Mel Wickman's car." Angus laid out a few more images. "As you can see, we clearly see the license plate on the car matching Mr. Wickman's. These are just prints from the video, but I'm sure our forensics team can clean them up a bit. It does appear to be Mr. Wickman and Dawn Belamy in the front seats."

Mel looked at the photos but didn't react. His face showed no reaction to the evidence or to Angus's words.

"We then have video of the car entering the rest stop. Unfortunately, we don't have video of the area where Mel parked, but we know they were there for nearly an hour because we see Mr. Wickman leave the stop here." He placed another photo down. "What happened at the rest stop, Mr. Wickman?"

"Don't answer that." The attorney shook his head.

"That's okay. He doesn't need to answer. We think we know. Right now, our forensics team is going over Mr. Wickman's car. We again have to wait for lab work, but we are pretty sure the blood drops found in the back of Mr. Wickman's car will be a match to Dawn Belamy, as will the hair found there as well."

"Don't forget the paint." Franks smirked.

"Oh yes, we also have paint samples taken from Ms. Belamy's body that we suspect will match the paint from Mr. Wickman's car. We also have semen from Ms. Belamy's body that we will be comparing with Mr. Wickman's DNA." Angus leaned back. "I'm sure there will be more as the lab returns its findings."

"Can I have a few minutes alone with my client?" the attorney asked.

"Of course." Angus stood .

"Where is Eden? I need to speak with Eden," Mel demanded.

"You mean Mayor Anderson? I'm afraid she's distanced herself from this case. Once she learned of the crime and the evidence, she seemed to withdraw any support for you. In fact, I think she told the media that she hopes whoever murdered Dawn Belamy would pay for his or her crimes. You are free to have your attorney reach out to the mayor, but it doesn't look like she'll want to attach herself to this investigation any more than she needs to." Franks grinned at Mel.

"She has to." Mel looked at his attorney. "She'll help. I know she will."

"Easy. We'll talk about all of this." His attorney nodded to Angus and Franks. "If you'll give us some time alone."

"Let the officer outside the door know when you're ready to talk." Angus opened the door, and he stepped out.

Franks followed, closing the door behind him. "He has to know we have him."

A man from the district attorney's office stepped into the hallway. He'd been watching through the one-way mirror. "My bet is they ask for a deal, but I'm not sure we have one for them. The only gain for us is to save the expense of a long trial. I'll check in with my office and see what they want to do."

"Thanks. Keep us updated." Angus headed to his office. He glanced over his shoulder at Franks. "It's late. I can handle this if you want to head out and go get your cat."

"You sure?" Franks looked hesitant.

"Yeah, there's nothing big going to happen tonight. At most, Mel will be held over for a bail hearing in the morning. We've got solid evidence. Once the lab work comes back, it's a slam dunk. I'll hang out here long enough to see what the D.A. says and find out what Mel's attorney has to say, then I'm calling it a night. Detective Madison is here if I need anything. Go and bond with your new pet." Angus sat down at his desk, then turned as Detective Amy Burns walked in. "You're here late."

"Just left your boyfriend. He stopped by to visit an old friend and found her dead on the couch." Amy dropped her stuff on her desk and flopped into the chair. "I'm going to write up this report and get out of here."

"What?" Angus pulled out his phone to see if Lance had texted him. "What old friend? Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine. He said it was his old babysitter. She'd been dead about a week or so. He found her tonight when he stopped by to say hello. He helped Mack get the body loaded then went home." Amy turned to her computer. "He said you were busy with a case, and he'd tell you about it when you got home."

Angus couldn't recall Lance ever talking about a babysitter, and in the time they'd been together, he had never known Lance to go visit one of his mother's friends. Something was up. He exchanged a glance with Franks. "Do you know anything about this? "

Franks held up his hands. "How would I know anything? Call him."

Angus pulled out his phone and quickly hit the button to call Lance. He waited until the voicemail answered and left a quick message for Lance to call him. "Voicemail. You sure he was okay?"

"Yeah, he said he was going home to take a long shower and was going to curl up with a book while he waited for you." Amy glanced over at him. "Why are you worried?"

"He found a body," Angus stated.

"An old friend of his mother's. The lady was in her eighties. He didn't look too upset over it. I think he's fine. It's not as if finding a body is traumatizing for him. Though I have to admit, after a week, dead on her couch, this one wasn't easy to see."

"He's probably in the shower. Give him a few to call you back." Franks pulled his keys out of his pocket. "Want me to stick around until you talk to him?"

"No, go. He would have called if there was a problem. Amy's probably right. He's in the shower. I'll be fine. I don't expect to be here much longer anyway. Go get your cat." Angus waved Franks off.

"You're getting a cat?" Amy raised a brow at Franks.

"Long story. I'll tell you about it tomorrow." Franks waved. "I'm out. Call if you need me."

"I'm good. You call if you need us." Angus laughed as he saw the nervous glare Franks cast him as he left the office .

"What's up with that?" Amy asked.

"The cat?" Angus smiled. "Our victim had a cat that was going to go to the shelter. She seemed to like Franks, so he's going to adopt it. He picks it up from the victim's best friend tonight."

"Franks ever own a cat?" Amy asked.

"Nope, this is all new for him. But it's a cat. It won't be that hard. The damn thing was all over him when we talked to the best friend. My guess is he'll be in love with it by morning and spoiling it rotten. The damn cat doesn't have any idea how good she's got it now." Angus tossed his pen down. "I'm just glad he took it. I could tell Lance was ready to offer if no one else did. While I don't mind cats, I have no idea how our dog would react."

"She'd adapt. Most dogs do. But I agree, this will be good for Franks. He's got that big house now. He needs company." Amy spoke as she typed.

Angus wondered how she'd feel if she knew Franks was interested in her sister. He'd been sworn to secrecy, but how he wanted to say something and see her reaction. Still, his loyalty was to Franks, and he wouldn't break his confidence. "I think so too. It will be an adjustment, but I think he'll be glad he did it once he gets used to having the cat around. He's always been good with other people's pets."

"What's new with your murder case?" Amy glanced up long enough to take a drink from the soda she had beside her.

"He's discussing things with his lawyer. I can't imagine they'll try to argue anything. The evidence is solid. I was worried the mayor would throw a bigger fit, but as soon as she heard what he was being charged with, she backed down. She knows this won't look good for her office, and we know, with the mayor, it's all about image for her."

"She's a nightmare. Be glad she isn't getting involved." Amy sighed. "I'm exhausted. Let me get this report done. I want to get home. Gretta made us dinner tonight and I'm already late. I'm going to miss her cooking when she finds her own place."

"We'll just have to plan a lot of dinner parties at her place." Angus stood. "I'm going to go check on my case. Have a good night and I'll see you tomorrow." He checked his phone once more to see if Lance had texted, but there was nothing. As he left the office, he wondered what the story was behind him finding a body. It had to be ghost related. He was sure Lance would have told him about an old babysitter he visited. For now, he had Amy's word that Lance was safe and had headed home, so he'd let it go for now. "Are they ready to talk?" Angus asked the officer outside the interrogation rooms.

"Yeah, he spoke to the guy from the D.A.'s office and wanted to work a deal. The D.A. guy is on the phone in there." The officer pointed to another interrogation room that wasn't being used.

Angus leaned against the wall. "Not much room to work a deal. This isn't a death penalty case." He would have loved to up the charges to first degree murder, but that might be harder to prove. This was a crime of passion. He doubted Mel Wickman had planned on killing Dawn. He'd reacted to the situation. He deserved to spend his life in prison for taking her life, but he wouldn't die for doing it.

The D.A.'s assistant stepped out of the room as he shoved his phone in his pocket. "Detective." He walked over to Angus. "They asked for a deal in exchange for a guilty plea. The best we can do is the chance for parole after thirty years."

"Sounds good to me." Angus nodded. Mel would be in his sixties at that point.

"Give me a second to get the paperwork my office just faxed over, and you can go speak with them." The assistant D.A. headed down the hall.

"He keeps screaming at his attorney to get hold of the mayor. It's the only thing I've heard through the door. He's sure she can help him." The officer shook his head. "Even the mayor can't ignore the load of evidence you have on this guy."

"She wouldn't even try. The public wouldn't like her defending a rapist and murderer. The mayor is going to do everything she can to stay out of this case. It will be bad enough for her that it's her personal security guard being charged."

The officer held up his phone. "The media is already reporting. The public arrest had them digging for information. It will be a media nightmare for the mayor by morning."

Angus sighed. "Doesn't anything positive ever happen around here for the media to obsess over?"

"What fun would covering that be?" The officer rolled his eyes .

"Okay, here you go. This is our deal." The assistant D.A. handed Angus a sheet of paper. "Have them sign it. Once he does, you're free to move him to county jail. Unless this ends up in court, you should be done with it."

"Far from done. I'll be filing reports all day tomorrow." Angus took the paper. "Thanks for being on top of this. I didn't want to be here all night."

"No problem. Glad we got this one solved so quickly. Call me if there are any issues." The assistant D.A. shook Angus's hand and headed down the hallway.

Angus took a deep breath and pushed the door to the interview room open. He found a very weary looking Mel Wickman slumped in his chair beside his attorney who looked up with interest. "I've got your plea agreement here. We just need your signature and we can move forward."

"There's no other way?" Mel glanced at his attorney.

"We can fight this, but with the evidence they have, it doesn't look good. I advise you to take the deal. You're the one who has to make this decision." The attorney reached out for the paper.

Angus handed it to him, then sat down while he gave them both time to read through the agreement. He was tired, hungry, and just wanted to get home. He was worried about Lance and needed to see that he was okay, especially since Lance hadn't texted or called him back yet. It wasn't like Lance to not keep him up to date on things .

"Did you call Eden for me?" Mel glanced at Angus.

"I did not. I told you that's between you and your attorney to handle. There is nothing the mayor can do to help you right now." Angus wanted to laugh at the thought that the mayor could do anything with the evidence they had against Mel. He watched as the reality of what was happening sunk in and Mel's eyes filled with tears.

"It wasn't supposed to happen." Mel blinked the tears back. "I didn't mean it."

"Quiet." The attorney handed Mel a pen. "I advise you to sign. But if you want to go to trial, we can do that."

"Could I really get life for this?" Mel asked.

Angus was sure the attorney had already gone over all this with Mel, but he couldn't blame the man for wanting to be sure.

"You could. Once the DNA evidence comes back it will only make this case stronger." The attorney sighed. "We discussed all this."

Mel nodded as he stared at the paper in front of him. Finally, he blew out a long breath, picked up the pen, and signed his name on the paper.

Angus hid the relief that flowed through him. "Thank you. Now I just need you to write out what happened that night, then we can get you moved to the jail." He handed over several sheets of paper to Mel.

"How long will I be there?" Mel asked his attorney.

"Hard to say. You'll have to appear in court a few times, but we'll push this through as quickly as we can and get you moved to the prison. I'll be in to visit with you tomorrow and we'll get working on that other stuff you asked me about. I'll contact your brother in the morning, and he can come handle your home and personal belongings."

Mel nodded.

"I'll give you time to write that out." Angus stood. He gave a nod to the attorney, then left the room. As he stepped out into the hall, he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out and smiled at the text from Lance.

Just a ghostly errand I had to make. I'm home and safe. Cooking fried potatoes and hash for dinner. Will keep a plate warm for when you get here. Love you.

Angus smiled and quickly sent back a text telling Lance he loved him and would be home in about an hour. He glanced at his watch, seeing it was almost nine. Another late night. He hoped that somehow things would quiet down and he could have the weekend with Lance.

As he sat at his desk, thinking over the case and making sure he had everything filed that he needed to, he thought about his life, his friends, and how content he was with his life right now. He was busy and didn't get enough time at home, but he had a good man by his side, a good family supporting him, and great friends around him. He couldn't ask for more. Talking himself out of one more cup of coffee, he went out to the hall to fill his coffee mug with water instead. The last thing he wanted was to be wired all night when more than anything he just wanted to go home, pull Lance into bed beside him, and hold him until a new day forced them to part ways yet again.