Reckoning - 53. Chapter 53

Adam went downstairs. He left Mia a spare key as he locked the front door. He had a rental car delivered. A 1966 black Ford Mustang. He observed the car amongst Raoul Valdez’s collection. And he wanted to give it a spin. He drove to the police station after receiving a phone call from AJ, telling him Jennifer Martin asked to speak to him. In any normal case, he would refuse, but he needed answers and closure.

He waited in the interrogation room, his back to the door. Someone entered. Adam sat up, taking a deep breath freeing it through his nose. He closed his eyes. When he opened them, AJ sat before him with an open file. Adam gave the detective a curious look of what-the-fuck.

“Adam, how are you?”

“AJ, can you please tell me, what you are doing here?”

“Adam we need to talk.”

“No, we don’t.”

“I beg to differ.”

“You can beg however you want.” Adam placed his hands on the table, leaning towards the detective. “It won’t make a difference.” He sat back, setting his hands on his lap.

“Fine. Then I’m here on a police matter.”

“Good. As long as it doesn’t get personal.”

AJ stared at the man he once loved. Now, staring back with the same hate he had when he found out about his affair with Artie. “We received a report about Gavin Martin’s second mother. As far as they could tell, she had an alibi. Yani Martin, now using her maiden name Wes, divorced Jennifer Martin a few months after their son died. She claimed Jennifer obtained, the police report and began forming theories about their son’s death. So much so, that it affected her job and their marriage. Sixteen-year-old, Steven Martin, which everyone in the family called Stevie, lost his parents in a house fire the authorities found to be arson. Yani suspected Jennifer but didn’t want to believe it. Stevie was Jennifer’s nephew who favored Gavin in appearance.”

“So, they think Jennifer killed his parents to gain custody?”

“That’s what they assumed. It’s still under investigation. Yani Wes stated Stevie might resemble Gavin but was the polar opposite of her son. She went on to say Jennifer obsessed with gaining guardianship of Stevie. She thinks Jennifer manipulated Stevie to do what she wanted.”

“What about Amanda Grieves?”

“As you know, the head we found in the alley belongs to Doctor Grieves. The headless body found in Gavin Martin’s bedroom belong to her doorman. A maintenance worker in her building discovered her body and the doorman’s head in a drum hidden under a tarp in the basement of her building.”

“Great are you done?”

AJ reached into his pocket and removed something. He held his fist out to Adam. “Thought Patrick might want this back.”

Adam held out his hand and AJ dropped a silver chain with a charm. Adam recognized the gift he gave to Patrick. He remembered seeing the thin scratch marks on his neck when he took him home.

“You don’t need it for evidence?”

“No.”

“Fine, I suppose I should thank you for recovering it.”

AJ tried to bite his tongue but failed. “Adam, when a case is closed. It’s the family’s right to request the case files for their loved one.”

Adam said nothing.

AJ clenched his jaw before shutting the file. He stood and walked to the door. “We’ll be monitoring you through the window.”

“AJ,” Adam said, stopping his ex in his tracks. “It would be best for all if you and your partner stay away from Patrick. I don’t speak for his father, but you and I both know his temper firsthand when it comes to his son.”

“What about you? Do I stay away from you, also?” he asked, still facing the door.

“If we have any dealings. We keep it professional. And I’ll come to the station. Neither of you will come to my office. I don’t want Patrick upset anymore.”

AJ never turned around. He opened the door and left. A few minutes later an officer led Jennifer Martin inside and sat her at the table. He handcuffed her wrists to a bar on the table, Adam remembered his own mother cuffed in the same manner when he was accused of murder. He almost lost Patrick during his investigation on clearing his parent.

Jennifer wore an orange prison uniform. Her hair hung around her shoulders, crossing over her face, no makeup or sadness from what Adam observed. She looked straight at him as if they were having a casual talk.

Adam, thank the officer who left them alone. He waited for Jennifer to speak first.

She smiled at the detective as if she pitied him.

“Okay, Ms. Martin. If you want to sit here and play games, I can go,” Adam said.

She didn’t reply.

“Fine, I’m out of here.” Adam rose to leave.

“How are you, Adam?” she said, still smiling, as Adam absorbed her words of endearment.

Adam sat down and gazed at her. “How am I? What are?…”

“Are you still having bad dreams?”

“Do you think you’re still my therapist?”

She ignored his question. “You know I’ve been thinking about you. I feel you still need to talk to someone, considering your situation.”

“My, situation? You mean when you tried to kill my boyfriend?”

“You know, you need to say it out loud.”

“Say? Say what?”

“He raped you.”

“Shut-up!” he snapped so loud his voice echoed the room.

Jennifer sat unfazed at his outburst. She straightened in her chair, sighing at him as she shook her head. “There it is. That rage. Your hate, for him.”

“Hate,” Adam’s voice dropped a baritone. “You mean like your hate towards Patrick Valdez?”

Her expression or demeanor never changed as she tried to adjust her hands when her restraints prevented her.

“Yeah, Jennifer, those cuffs reminding you of something?”

“I know where I am, Detective Potter.”

“Good, because you’re going away for a long time.”

“And you’re, fucking a killer. Stay on his good side, detective.”

“Is that it? That’s all you needed to tell me. You murdered three people and tried to kill three more, me included.”

“I needed to teach him a lesson. He needed to experience loss.” She looked off into the distance as if seeing someone.

“To lose someone he loved?” Adam asked.

“Yes. If he experiences it, then maybe, he’ll confess his sins.”

“Did you convince Stevie to commit murder?”

“Never. I love him.”

“So, Daniel Hunter did the killings?”

“All but two.”

“Amanda Grieves?”

“How else would I convince him?”

Adam stood, glancing at the two-way mirror before leaving.

“Adam,” she called.

He kept his back to her, stopping at the open door.

“When you find help. Say the words.”

Adam continued forward, slamming the door behind him, ignoring AJ’s calls to him.