Conspiracy

Chapter Fifteen

We walked inside and sat down on the couch. The place was kind of a mess, and he started trying to clean up around us. There were empty bottles on the table and the place smelt of booze and food. "I'm so sorry this place is a mess. I was looking around and not really sure what I was looking for but he was being very scattered, "Justin please sit we have to talk about Amy." He stopped moving and his body tensed. I hadn't seen him in such a long time and even when I did see him it was like we had an unspoken deal that we just didn't talk about her. He took a seat across the room. "What are you talking about Kelly?" I didn't want to have this conversation anymore than he did but we had to know what was going on. I was debating on if I should just shock him with it and see his reaction. "Have you heard about the shooting at the Lawyer?" The way this place looked I didn't know if he even had the TV plugged in. He nodded, "Well as we've been investigating we came across some things that have given us more questions than answers." I could see a panicked look on Angelica's face as if I was going to give away what we found on him. I made sure we made eye contact and hoped she understood that I needed her to trust me. He looked puzzled, "What does that have to do with Amy?" This was the hard part but I felt like it needed to come from me. "I've got a couple of questions about the accident." It had been a long time but I knew for me that it was still fresh. In looking at this state right now it didn't seem like he knew she was alive and it would be just as fresh. "Well, we've come across some things that suggest that Amy might be alive." His face fell, he stood up and turned his back to us, "No way. That's not possible." He put his hand on the fireplace mantel where there was a picture of Amy from college. "Justin, please sit down." He spun around quickly and he looked more angry then he did surprised, "I can't believe that you of all people would suggest this. You were there," he was yelling while pointing at me. He was pacing around the room and I wasn't sure what to say next. Angelica apparently didn't have the same problem, "MR. RICHARDSON SIT DOWN." That got his attention and he turned around quickly like he was going to yell back, but she stood up and came face to face with him before he could say something. "Sit down please," she repeated and a quieter tone. He did what she said and went back to his seat. She continued to talk, "Mr. Richardson did you know or have any inclination that your daughter might still be alive?" I figured the question would set him off again but she was right to ask him, it was his name in connection with these murders after all. He looked over at me like I should know the answer but we needed to hear him say it. "Come on Justin just answer the questions," I said trying to ease the situation. "When did you stop calling me Mr. Richardson?" He asked me, changing the subject. "Sometime around my 20th birthday I think," I answered but gave him a look to tell him just to answer. "No Kelly, I didn't have any idea. I don't believe she is, and for you to be the one suggesting this, it's just sick." I didn't know what to say, he looked so hurt when he started talking again, "The only person who took her loss as hard as I did was you, we were there together." When Amy died we both were inconsolable, there was a period of time that I couldn't even get out of bed. One of the reasons I did was because I knew that Amy would want me to make sure that her dad was ok, so I would go over to make sure he was eating and taking care of himself. Angelica continued to ask the questions, "Mr. Richardson, do you have any connection to Jack Rabbit Slims in Wilmington, or Wild Orchid in Galveston?" Those were the locations of the first two shootings and this answer was going to tell us if we could trust what Justin was telling us about Amy. He was bent over in his chair with his head in his hands but when Angelica was talking his body tensed before he looked up at us. His demeanour had changed a bit and suddenly he seemed more calm than before. "No I've never heard of them. Why?" Bailey had stayed quiet the whole time but I could see her watching him intently and I could tell she didn't believe him. "You lived both places didn't you?" She asked him with a look on her face I was used to. "Ya. I lived there, so?" She raised her eyebrow, "So you've never heard of these places but lived in the cities?" He didn't seem to like the line of questioning but I couldn't help but think it was because he was just told his daughter might still be alive after years of morning. "What are you trying to say exactly?" I could see Bailey getting frustrated so I stepped in. "Well it seems that these places were somehow," I started but was cut off by Angelica quickly. "We aren't saying anything, we just thought it was interesting that you lived all three places that the shootings occurred." I gave her a look that asked what the fuck that was but Bailey reached out and put her hand on my arm which told me she agreed with the way she was handling it. They both stood up, "Well I think that's it for now, but we'll be in touch." Angelica was talking as she was walking towards the door. I guess that meant we were leaving. "Well it was nice seeing you Justin," I said standing up to leave. "You too Kelly," he said walking towards me to give me a hug. It had been a long time since we had seen each other but we were never really the hugging type. I didn't know what to think but hugged him back and then went outside. "What the fuck was that?" I said once we were in the car. "What do you mean?" Angelica said sounding kind of annoyed. I was on edge and was about to respond when Bailey interrupted me, "Mc, calm down." Was she really going to start with me too, "What do you mean calm down, he just found out his daughter is alive. What did you expect his reaction to be?" Bailey was in the back seat but slid up so I could see her, "Kelly, you're too close." She rarely called me Kelly so I knew she was trying to get my attention. I turned to look at her and I could see what she was saying in her eyes, "Forget about who it was and just think about it." She knew that I could normally see things objectively but when it comes to Amy all bets are off. "You know I'm right." I replayed the conversation in my head, trying to look past Justin and Amy. She was right, the way he wouldn't look at us, his reaction to the mention of the other locations, he was hiding something. I wasn't sure if he knew about Amy but he was definitely lying about something. "Alright, so he's lying. We could go back in there and bring him into the station." Angelica shook her head as she picked up her phone, "We'll put surveillance on him, let's see what he does next."

We got back to the office and the FBI had already put a surveillance team in place. It would be hard to hide since he lives so far outside the city but they had access to satellite imagery that we didn't so they could track him from overhead. "They better not lose him," I could hear Bailey saying to Angelica while I stared at the picture of Amy in my hand. "We actually know what we're doing, contrary to what you believe," Angelica answered sarcastically. "Whatever, I'm just saying," I spun around to end the argument. "Alright you two enough," I pointed at Angelica while looking at Bailey. "They won't lose him." I was exhausted and needed a drink. There wasn't anything more we could do today, the plan was to watch Justin, as well as continue to dig into his business and financials to see if there was anything we could find. There was a team of people working on facial recognition on any recordings we could get a hold of around the shootings looking for both Justin and Amy. So I was done for the day, "I'm going to the bar. Come if you want," I said to no one in particular as I got up and grabbed my keys out of my drawer. Bailey and Angelica both looked at me and then each other but I didn't really care if either of them came along, I was going. I walked out the door and got into the car. It was the first time I had been alone for half a second to process anything that was happening. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and when I opened them I saw Angelica coming out the door of the precinct. I got a text from Bailey at the same time.

B: "Figured you needed some space, text if you need me."

I responded.

"Thanks B."

Angelica walked over to the passenger side door and got in. I guess she was coming with me. I didn't say anything and neither did she so I just drove. When we got to the bar my dad was working behind the bar. I didn't know how to even approach the situation but I knew I couldn't tell him, not until I knew for sure. When Amy died I was a complete disaster and he was left to clean up the mess. I know for a long time he was worried that I might do something stupid. I couldn't put him through that again, and I also didn't want him to think that it was all for nothing unless I knew she was alive and well. So I put on my work face and went up to him at the bar, "Hey Pop." He smiled as he saw me walking over, I could also see him looking past me at Angelica with a smirk on his face. "Hey Kel. Nice to see you again, " he said looking at Angelica. "You as well Mr. McMaster," he shook his head at her. "Please call me Brian," she nodded and we both sat down. He poured my usual and remembered what she had ordered the last time but he also put two shots down in front of us. "You look like you might need these." He was so very right. We both picked up the shot at the same time and tossed it back. He looked at me probably a little concerned, "What's going on Kel?" I just shook my head, "Sorry Pop, can't talk about it." He didn't like that answer because there isn't much I don't tell him, even about the job. It was because of that he left it alone and figured I would tell him when I could. He poured two more shots and walked away. "You aren't going to tell your dad?" Angelica asked. "I can't, I'm not sure how I even feel about it. I know if I tell him he's going to try and protect me. Right now I need to protect him." She nodded but I could tell she disagreed. "So what do you think is going on? Do you think she's alive? Do you think she's involved in any of this?" It was a good question, one that I would like to think I knew the answer to, but at this point nothing I thought I knew was right. "Honestly, I don't know. The Amy I knew and loved would never be involved in anything like this, but maybe I didn't really know her at all." I looked down at my drink as I stirred it with my straw, was everything that her and I had a lie? I felt a hand on mine and Angelica was staring at me. "Kelly, you can't think that way. Until you know what happened you have to believe what you had was real." I stared into her eyes while she rubbed her thumb across the top of my hand, "If she let you go on purpose she's a moron." I stood up and downed the rest of my drink, she looked at me looking a little confused. I grabbed my off the bar and started to move towards the door. I leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Are you coming?"