He shook his head, but said, “Allison was going to give the files to you on her way out of town. She knew that you wouldn’t let it drop. That you’d expose Reggie and the drug squad. That you didn’t need the FBI to help you.”
Emmy felt a tightness in her chest. Allison had counted on her for so much. Emmy would’ve missed all of it but for Jude. “Bill, you got into an argument with Allison at the motel. She left. Then a few hours later, you came here to the house. Why?”
“I didn’t want to leave it like that between us. I knew she was leaving. I told you I loved her. I couldn’t let her go without making sure she knew how I felt.”
Emmy had dealt with her share of gamblers. She knew they couldn’t resist doubling down on a bet. “You thought she wasstill going to try to blackmail Gilchrist, right? You didn’t want to miss that payday.”
Bill shook his head, but said, “Yeah.”
“What happened when you got here?” Emmy asked. “Did you fight again?”
“No.” Bill looked out the window. “It’s like I told you. Allison was mad at me about trading the files, but we made up. We had sex. Fell asleep. Then she asked me to leave with her and Mandy in the morning. Said all of us could go together. Get whatever money we could out of Gilchrist. Make a fresh start. I really wanted that. I know you don’t believe me, but without all the money problems, things would’ve been fine between us. We were happy before I got into trouble. We would’ve been happy again.”
Emmy made her hands unclench.
“So, that was what we were gonna do,” Bill said. “We went to sleep in each other’s arms dreaming about leaving in the morning, going on the lam like Bonnie and Clyde while we wait for our big score. Then I wake up in the morning, Allison’s not in bed, and I hear all this hollering and screaming. Mandy and Allison got into a huge fight. I go downstairs, and Mandy’s freaking out, all hysterical. Waving her arms. Cussing Allison. Allison’s screaming back.”
Emmy knew what the fight had been about. Mandy had anticipated it the night before when she’d called Talia. Allison must have finally told Mandy that she was going to take Bill with them. Emmy couldn’t begin to know what Allison had been thinking. Surely, she had understood how crushed Mandy would be by the news.
And still, Emmy foolishly wanted to believe there was a tiny part of Allison that had been persuadable. That she might’ve changed her mind about taking Bill. That she was finally going to leave him, if only for the sake of Mandy. To choose a man over your own child’s sense of peace was an unforgiveable act of selfishness. No wonder Mandy had exploded. Emmy was a grown woman several steps removed from the situation and she felt like exploding, too.
Still, she asked, “What were they fighting about?”
“I don’t get mixed up in their drama. They were just screeching at each other like cats. I had to get out of there.” His shoulder twitched in a dismissive shrug. “Allison had the driver’s licenses on the table. I couldn’t find mine. She’d buried it in the bottom of all that shit. I didn’t let her trash the house like that when I lived there.”
“You searched the papers on the table?” Finally, one piece of the crime scene made sense. “Did you break her laptop?”
“It was an accident.” He twitched his shoulder again. “You already know I pawned the camera. Allison burned through fifteen grand of the lawsuit money thinking it’d help her drum up more business. She was so stupid. She could’ve used her iPhone. You know I paid for the phone, right? She begged me to let her do the upgrade, but the money came out of my pocket.”
Emmy had to force her hands to unclench again. “Did you shoot Allison, Bill? Did you shoot Mandy?”
“No,” Bill said. “Whatever else you wanna call me, I’m not a murderer.”
Emmy tried to probe the holes in his story. The problem was, every explanation he’d given would make sense to a jury. The even bigger problem was, he hadn’t given Emmy a damn thing to justify charges of murder and attempted murder.
She looked at the flashing red light that showed the dash cam was recording. That’s why Emmy had put Bill in Julian’s cruiser instead of her own. She had wanted him on video. At least there was one thing she could put on the record.
“Bill, I’m gonna tell you something, and you’re not gonna like it.” She motioned for Julian to open the door. “Mitch Bellingham gave Allison a video that I believe proves Ezekial Gilchrist paid Shane Russell to fix the jury in his wife’s murder trial, and to murder Ruel Clifton back in 2002.”
Bill snorted. “What?”
“I believe that Ezekial tried to blackmail Mitch, but Mitch never spent the money. He left Allison three hundred thousand dollars in cash when he died. We found it in the attic. You know, the place Mandy used to hide in when you lost control of your temper?”
Julian opened the door.
Emmy smiled at Bill. “I guess you didn’t take Allison’s last good thing after all.”
“Are you fu—”
Emmy got out of the car. Shut the door. Took her belt and vest from Julian. She told him, “Book Bill Garrison for tampering with evidence, obstruction of justice, attempted assault on a police officer, and lying to a police officer. We can’t use Dexter Gilchrist for this. Talk to the GBI about bringing in the state’s attorney. Pull your dash cam. That’ll give them what they need to bring charges.”
“Yes, boss.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Emmy watched Coach Bell go back into her house as the last cruiser pulled down the street. Telephones would soon start ringing across North Falls. They would all probably be elated that Bill Garrison had finally been arrested. Emmy wished she could feel the same way. She hadn’t gotten a confession. She hadn’t extricated any new leads. It was hard to say she was back at the beginning, but other than confirming that a lot of her suspicions were right, there was nothing else to do but continue the hunt for Shane Russell.
Jude was leaning against Emmy’s cruiser. Her lips pursed in that way she did when she had something to say.
