Heartbreaker Hero: Eddie's Story (Maine Justice Book 4) Read online

  Leeanne thought that over. Harvey jogged past, and she waved. “It’s not just that. Sometimes I think, how could he even like me? He’s dated all these other women, and I’m sure some of them were beautiful and smart. That’s what I can’t live up to. He has no reason to pick me.”

  Jennifer stuck her needle in the Aida cloth and laid down her embroidery frame. “You stop that, right now. Honey, you’re beautiful. You’re smart. And beyond that, Eddie sees something in you that none of those other women had.”

  “What?” Leeanne wasn’t ready to accept her sister’s evaluation, but she wanted to hear it anyway.

  Jennifer pulled in a big breath. “He’s struggling, just like you are. You’re both new believers. You have that in common, and you both want to do what’s right. But you’re not always sure what that is. Eddie sees your commitment, your desire, your passion. And I’m pretty sure he also sees how kind and loving you are.”

  Leeanne shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t have to live up to the women he used to date. If they were his ideal, he would have stuck with one of them. Ever think about that?”

  “I guess not. I hope you’re right.”

  Harvey stopped running and walked to cool off. When Eddie caught up with him, he slowed, too.

  “Guess they’re done,” Jennifer said to Leeanne. “Can you carry this bag?”

  *****

  Eddie left the track and drove home, showered and changed, then beat it for the police station. All the time, he was thinking about Leeanne and how cute she looked in her running clothes. Maybe he should just leave her alone for a year or two, until she had a little more life experience. Or not. She might find someone else and slip out of his reach. He didn’t want to lose her. He wished she wasn’t quite so serious, but at the same time, he’d hate to see her lose her air of innocence.

  As expected, there was no report yet from the medical examiner’s office. Harvey called them anyway and was told to be patient. It wasn’t like they had nothing to do. Harvey handed out other assignments and detailed Eddie to locate Misty Carney.

  In ten minutes, he’d found her on social media. By paying close attention to her posts, he gathered she had a job at a big box store. Eddie called in a few favors from old acquaintances, and by nine-thirty, he’d located her employer, one of the big chains that had three stores within the city limits, in different neighborhoods, and one in most Maine towns of any size. He called the one in Rosemont, then the one in Deering Center, and he hit pay dirt.

  Her supervisor, Matt, was cagey about giving out information on an employee, which was good. Eddie told him he was absolutely right to be careful, and to please call the police station and ask for him. Once they got past that hurdle, Eddie had a great conversation with Matt.

  In return for Misty’s schedule, Eddie answered his questions about the police department’s hiring. He told Matt they’d hold a new class at the Academy along about April, and he should put his name in for testing. Eddie knew nothing about him, but he was smart enough to work his way into a management position at the store, so he figured Matt would at least have a chance at getting into the pool of hiring candidates. They’d posted dates for the written entry level exam, and Eddie told him where to look online.

  After their conversation, he made a note of the contact. In the detective business, contacts were solid gold, and Eddie knew he could count on Matt if he ever needed information about anything connected to the store chain.

  He went to Harvey’s desk. The captain was deep into something online, but he hit a few keys and looked up at Eddie.

  “I found Misty. She goes in to work at eleven.” Eddie told him where.

  “Deering. Does she live there?”

  “Nope, her current address is closer to home. In fact, it’s so close to Kyle Quinlan’s home, you might mistake one for the other.”

  Harvey’s eyes went wide, like blue Frisbees. “She was living with Kyle?”

  “So it appears. Either that, or he let her put down his address on her job application.”

  “Let me call the judge’s chambers,” Harvey said. “We should have had that warrant before this. I’ll see if we can pick it up and go over there.”

  They could, and they did. In less than half an hour, they had the warrant and were parking in front of Kyle’s apartment.

  A young woman with dark, straight hair and lots of eye makeup opened the door. She had a lipstick in her hand, but she hadn’t used it yet. Her black pants and red blouse looked like presentable clothes for a chain store clerk.

  “Misty Carney?” Harvey asked.

  “Yes.”

  He and Eddie showed their badges for the usual introductions.

  “We need to ask you a few questions about Kyle,” Harvey said.

  “He’s not here.”

  “When did you last see him?”

  She blinked up at him. “Friday night, I think.”

  “You didn’t spend Christmas together?” Harvey asked.

  “I went to Saco to spend the weekend with my sister and her family. I assumed Kyle went to his parents’ house. Why? Is he in trouble again?”

  “May we come in?” Harvey asked.

  “Well, uh ...” She looked over her shoulder. “I was getting ready to go to work.”

  Eddie held out the warrant, and Harvey took it. “We have a warrant to search the premises.”

  Her shoulders drooped, and she stepped back. “Okay. Can I finish getting ready?”

  “Why don’t you just sit down here while I look around the kitchen?” Harvey asked.

  She pulled out a chair at the small table. Harvey nodded to Eddie, and Eddie slipped into the next room.

  He left the living room for last. He figured the most interesting stuff would be in the bedroom. Pot stash; bongs; other drug paraphernalia. On top of the bureau was a cell phone, and he wondered if it was Kyle’s. He dropped it into an evidence bag and pocketed it. Kyle hadn’t carried any I.D. on his last jaunt, and there was his wallet, just sitting there. Eddie opened it to be sure. Driver’s license, debit card, a picture of Misty, and eleven bucks.

  In the bathroom he found some oxycodone—in a sandwich bag, not a prescription bottle, and more in a pill bottle with another person’s name on it. Also enough of Misty’s makeup to stock a cosmetic counter, along with a few miscellaneous prescriptions that were legal, and over-the-counter meds.

  The living room included a drawer full of bills and correspondence. Eddie flipped through them. Kyle and Misty shared a phone plan. The Internet service bill was in her name, but the rent was in his. Eddie picked up a laptop and went into the kitchen.

  Harvey was just closing the refrigerator.

  “Ms. Carney, do you have your phone on you?” Eddie asked.

  Glassy-eyed, she pulled it out of her pants pocket.

  “Thank you. And where is Kyle’s phone?”

  “In the bedroom. I thought it was weird he didn’t take it with him. He must have forgotten it.”

  Eddie looked at Harvey and nodded. Harvey handed him a bag, and he looked into it. Oh, good. More pot and a dozen or so nickel bags.

  “Ms. Carney, you’ll have to come with us down to the police station,” Harvey said.

  “What? No. I have to be to work in forty minutes.”

  “I’ll call your supervisor and explain,” Eddie said. Matt wouldn’t like it, but since he aspired to a career in law enforcement, he would understand.

  “But—why? I haven’t done anything.”

  “Drugs,” Harvey said.

  “What? Those aren’t mine. They must be Kyle’s.”

  They always said the stash wasn’t theirs. Always. And they expected the cops to believe them and let them go.

  “Is this your computer or Kyle’s?” Eddie asked.

  “Mine.”

  “Does Kyle have one?”

  “No, he used mine or went to the library.” She said “used,” past tense, but Eddie didn’t mention it.

 
“Do you have any flash drives in the apartment?” She scowled and walked past him into the living room and took one out of a bowl on top of the TV set.

  “Any more?” Eddie asked as she dropped it into his hand.

  She hesitated, then picked up her purse and opened it. She held out a hot pink one. “You’d better not wreck that. It’s got all my pictures on it.”

  “I won’t wreck it.” He bagged it with the other one.

  Harvey had asked for a backup unit to do a more thorough search of the apartment. A knock came at the door, and he let in Sarah Benoit and Ray Oliver. He gave them quiet instructions.

  Ray said, “So, this is where the dead guy—”

  Harvey held up a hand. “Let’s just keep quiet, okay?”

  “Yeah,” Ray said.

  Eddie was watching Misty. She lowered her eyelids and didn’t meet his gaze. She knew about Kyle, all right. But how? Eddie had checked with Harvey Sunday night, and been assured the reporters hadn’t put a name to the body Mike had found. They would certainly have to question Misty further.

  “Look, I don’t want to lose my job,” she said.

  “I’ll call Matt right now.”

  Her eyes flickered, but she didn’t comment about Eddie being on a first-name basis with her supervisor.

  Sarah and Ray walked past him. Sarah shot a glance Eddie’s way, and he pretty much ignored her. This wasn’t the time or the place to chat—and there might never be one.

  He stepped away and called Matt. Meanwhile, Harvey searched Misty’s purse in her full view. By the time Eddie had advised Matt that Ms. Carney would not be at work today, she was in official custody and wearing handcuffs. Another marked unit pulled up, and Harvey had the officers take her to the station.

  Ray came out of the bedroom. “Hey, Captain, I’m sorry. I thought the woman knew he was dead.”

  “She did,” Eddie said.

  Harvey raised his eyebrows. “You sure?”

  “Yeah, she did. You booking her?”

  “We probably have enough. I’m pretty sure that’s cocaine I found in the refrigerator.” Harvey looked at Ray. “You and Sarah check every food package in the kitchen. I know it’s a pain, but—”

  “No probs.” Ray held up a sandwich bag with a hundred or so pills in it. “You can add this to your evidence. It was taped underneath a dresser drawer.”

  *****

  It was lunchtime when they got back to the station. Harvey called Jennifer while Eddie tagged the evidence bags they’d brought in. When Harvey hung up, he said, “Lunch at the diner? Jennifer and Leeanne are out shopping, so we’ll have some food in the house again.”

  “Sure,” Eddie said. “You guys fed a lot of people last weekend.”

  They went to the little café down the street. The restaurant put tables outside in warm weather, but in winter their service was limited to inside tables or takeout. The place was jammed with cops that day. Jimmy Cook and Nate Miller, from the Priority Unit, had a booth, and Eddie and Harvey squeezed in with them and two uniformed officers.

  “Did you have any luck running down Kyle’s friends?” Harvey asked. He had sent Nate and Jimmy to Kyle’s neighborhood that morning to talk to neighbors and try to scare up some of his buddies.

  “A little,” Nate said. “We got a couple of names of guys he hung out with, but we also found a neighbor who saw him leaving his building Saturday morning.”

  “What time?” Harvey asked.

  “Early. It was still dark, but he was sure it was Kyle. Saw him under the security light in the parking lot at the apartment building.”

  “Was Kyle driving?”

  “Nope. Walked off down the street.”

  “What was the neighbor doing up at all hours?” Eddie asked.

  “He said he gets up at five every morning. He’s a lab tech at the hospital and has to be in by seven o’clock.”

  “Good work, Nate,” Harvey said. “Put the witness’s contact data in your report.”

  “Will do.”

  The waitress came over to their booth carrying her order pad.

  “Hi, Eddie! What’ll you have?”

  “Hi, Crystal. Cheeseburger and fries, please.”

  “You got it.” She patted Eddie on the shoulder, and Harvey gave him the look he used to give Eddie when he flirted with witnesses.

  “What’ll it be today, Captain?” Crystal said, smiling at Harvey.

  “A BLT and coffee. Thanks.”

  “Coming right up.”

  She walked away, and Eddie made himself not look at her legs below her miniskirt. Harvey was still watching him. Keeping his promises to Leeanne wouldn’t be simple. Maybe it wasn’t a bad thing to have a watchdog to remind you when you got out of line.

  They shot the breeze with Nate and Jimmy. The other two cops left, and Crystal brought their sandwiches. Eddie’s plate was heaped up with french fries, about three times as many as normal, and she set a bottle of ketchup beside it.

  “What are you up to these days, Eddie?” she asked as she put Harvey’s plate on the table.

  “Uh, well, we’re pretty busy at work.”

  “Yeah?” She actually winked at him before turning to Nate and Jimmy. “How about you boys? Can I get you anything else?”

  Eddie wondered why she could call these grown men boys and get away with it, while if they called women her age girls they got walloped.

  “I’m good,” Nate said.

  “Yeah, me too,” Jimmy told her.

  “Okay.” She picked up their empty plates and looked at Eddie again. “If you need anything, just whistle.” She sashayed off.

  “Hey, Eddie,” Jimmy said with a laugh. “Looks like you’re special.”

  “Yeah.” Nate filched one of his fries.

  “Don’t tell me you used to date her, too,” Harvey said with a resigned air.

  “Eight months ago. Almost a year. She’s B.C.”

  Nate frowned.

  “Before Coastal,” Eddie said. He tended to measure everything these days by before and after the espionage case at Coastal Technology the previous year, where Harvey met Jennifer. Of course, dating Crystal was before Christ, too, but Eddie wouldn’t joke about that.

  Jimmy smiled. “She’s still got it bad for you.”

  “Well, I haven’t got it for her.” Crystal was cute, but she had no class whatsoever. “I only took her out once, for crying out loud.”

  Nate and Jimmy headed back to the office, and Eddie picked up the top bread from his cheeseburger and studied the pickles inside.

  “Why do you do that?” Harvey asked.

  “I got a cricket once.”

  Harvey shook his head and took a bite from his BLT without inspecting its innards. They ate in silence for a couple of minutes.

  “So, you and Leeanne are good now?” Harvey asked.

  “I don’t know.” Eddie scowled. “I wish Abby had kept her nose out of it.”

  Harvey grunted as he chewed.

  “Things were going all right until she butted in,” Eddie said. “Then Leeanne remembered that you and Jennifer hadn’t thought it was a good idea at first.”

  “That was last summer. You were seeing Sarah then.”

  “Yeah, but that’s history.” Eddie dunked a fry in ketchup. “She knows about Sarah.”

  “It came up last night when she was talking to me and Jennifer. I told her you broke it off with Sarah when you got saved.”

  “Good. And you know I’m not looking around anymore.”

  “Are you sure, Ed? Because I’d hate to see Leeanne get hurt.”

  Eddie gave his question serious contemplation for about ten seconds, then nodded. “It might take longer and be harder than I thought, but I really want her, Harvey. For life.”

  Harvey smiled, finally. “She already likes you.”

  “Well, that’s something. But she’s not completely open with me yet. I don’t know what’s missing.”

  “Trust,” he said.

  “Yeah. I guess I don’t
exactly inspire that in young women.”

  “You have to prove yourself trustworthy, and that can take time.”

  When Crystal brought their checks, Eddie made sure he didn’t flirt or check out her legs.

  They went back to the station. Harvey’s desk phone rang as they entered the unit’s office. He went to pick it up, and Eddie drifted to his own desk, focusing his mind on the case again. He was sure Jordan Quinlan hadn’t told them all he knew.

  “Ray and Sarah are back,” Harvey called. “They’re coming up here.”

  The four of them sat down in the interview room.

  “Get anything else?” Harvey asked.

  “A couple hundred bucks, but nothing resembling drug money,” Sarah said.

  Ray nodded. “I think you found most of it, Captain. I found some joints in a canister.

  “Okay, thanks.”

  “You got anything else for us?” Sarah looked hopeful.

  “Sorry,” Harvey said. “Not today.”

  “I guess we pull traffic duty this afternoon, then.” Ray stood up. “Thanks for an interesting morning, Captain.”

  Sarah sent a bleak look Eddie’s way and followed Ray to the elevator.

  Chapter 8

  A patrolman brought Misty to the Priority Unit, where Harvey and Eddie spent half an hour with her in their interview room. She gave them her phone and computer passwords, but she became belligerent as soon as Harvey suggested she’d known Kyle was dead. He kept at her, and she broke down in tears, howling, “Can’t I get a lawyer?”

  Harvey sent her downstairs and told Brad Lyons, the sergeant, to let him know when her court-appointed lawyer had been there.

  He took a phone call and stopped by Eddie’s desk afterward to tell him he was headed upstairs. That meant the chief’s office. Mike summoned Harvey frequently or came down one flight to confer with him in Priority.

  Funny, in the five years Eddie had been in the unit under Mike, he’d never been upstairs to the chief’s office. But since July, when Mike became chief and Harvey took over the unit, he’d been up there maybe a dozen times. It used to be really scary. When a man was called to the chief’s office, it was as if a school child was sent to the principal. Not anymore. Now when Harvey went upstairs, Eddie figured either they were getting a new case, or he and Mike were just drinking coffee and having a gabfest.