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CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

EVERETT, WASHINGTON

THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2023

7:00 P.M.

This was the first time Detective Monica Burns had ever escorted a handcuffed prisoner on board a commercial aircraft. In Santa Ana there had been a lot of open curiosity about the situation with Marc Atherton. She had spent the flight being grateful that they’d be landing at Paine Field. With only two gates, the airport was tiny compared to SeaTac, and she didn’t expect their arrival to cause much of a stir, but she was wrong about that. When they walked into the baggage claim area, the place was crammed full of news reporters and TV cameras.

Obviously, as far as the Seattle area was concerned, Charles Brewster’s homicide was still big news. Fortunately, Chief Nelson had provided a pair of patrol officers to help run interference. The uniformed officers got them through the crush of reporters in baggage claim and escorted them outside to where an unmarked Edmonds PD vehicle with another detective at the wheel waited at the curb to drive them to the Snohomish County Jail in Everett.

Monica had finished loading Atherton into the back seat and was climbing into the front when a text came in from Ray.

Ray: Eddie and I spent the day going through mounds of digital evidence downloaded from those seized devices. It’s clear Joel was the guy running the show. We found no evidence that Adam bore any ill will toward his father, but that’s not what Joel told Marc Atherton.

Monica: So Joel was lying to Adam about his relationship with Marc, and he was lying to Marc about Adam’s relationship with his father. Is that how he got Marc to go along with the murder-for-hire scheme?

Ray: Looks like. Before you turn him over to booking, you might give him some food for thought. When Joel called Marc, offering to pick him up after work, Adam was already bound and gagged in the trunk of Joel’s Camaro. If we hadn’t intercepted those calls, there’s a good chance Marc would have ended up in the trunk, too. Be sure you let him know that Joel had booked only one ticket from Tijuana to Mexico City.

Monica: So if they offer him a plea deal to testify against Joel, he should take it?

Ray: I’d say jump at it. A conviction for second-degree murder is a hell of a lot better than one for first. As for his testimony, it won’t just be the word of one co-conspirator against another because we have digital evidence backing up Marc’s version.

Monica: Will do.

Monica pocketed her phone, then she turned back to Marc. “Did I mention that Joel tried to call you after you got off work the other night while I had you in the interview room at Huntington Beach PD?”

Marc shook his head.

“He called a total of four times, as a matter of fact,” Monica continued. “He was hoping the two of you could get together.”

“So what?”

“The problem is, at the time he called you, he had already attacked Adam Brewster with a knife, and Adam was bound, gagged, and helpless in the trunk of Joel’s vehicle. When Joel was apprehended, he was on his way to Mexico with a one-way ticket from Tijuana to Mexico City loaded into his phone.”

Monica waited to let those words sink in.

“He was leaving without me?” Marc asked, sounding bewildered.

“Actually,” Monica continued. “I think it was worse than that. Why would someone expecting to fly to Mexico City be traveling in a vehicle with a loaded weapon and a short-handled shovel along for the ride? And why was he so interested in having you in that same vehicle?”

“Wait,” Marc said in disbelief. “Are you saying he was going to kill me?”

“Let’s just say I don’t believe either you or Adam Brewster would have been alive by the time Joel Franklin crossed the border into Mexico.”

After that, Marc said nothing more. The brooding silence in the car stretched from one minute to two. It took all the restraint Monica could muster to keep her mouth shut. Eventually Marc spoke.

“That lying son of a bitch! Do you think he would have gone through with it?”

“What I think doesn’t matter,” Detective Burns said. “The real question is, do you?”

By then they were pulling up to the sally port at the Snohomish County Jail. Nothing more was said, but it didn’t need to be.

Hint dropped , Monica Burns told herself. Message received loud and clear!