Cold Case Cover-Up Page 5

  He gave her a questioning look. “I don’t really know the answer to that. The coroner did, I’m sure, but he died a long time ago.”

  “Did you ever see the body?”

  “No, of course not. Not sure I would have wanted to. Jane and I attended the funerals, however, for both Rene and little Alicia. I’ll tell you both, seeing that little bitty coffin about did me in. I can’t imagine what Bill and Jay felt.”

  “What can you tell me about the circumstances of Jay Englin finding the child’s body? Was he searching with a group of people? Did he call anyone over to see what he’d found?”

  “As far as I can remember, he was out there by himself. Everyone else had already given up on searching through the rubble, but he wouldn’t. He was determined to find her. Of course, by that time, the coroner had done the autopsy and discovered Rene had been killed by a gunshot. There were already more rumors swirling around that Paul had shot Rene and taken off with the child. You probably know they never did find Paul, so that was a logical assumption. But then Jay found the little girl. He called Bill and that was that.”

  No one else had actually seen the child. That only reinforced Dana’s belief. But if everyone already assumed Paul had taken off with Alicia, why the elaborate charade of Jay finding her body in the rubble and faking her death? Why not stick to the story and allow Alicia Renfield to be merely a child kidnapped by her murderer father?

  Of course, it was also possible that her father was the very one to abandon her at that church in his hurry to get away. Perhaps he’d killed Rene in a fit of rage then come to his senses and decided he couldn’t take his baby daughter on the run with him.

  But that didn’t explain the note written in Bill Mackey’s handwriting or the preacher’s letter saying someone he trusted had dropped off the baby and said she was in danger.

  She needed to find Jay Englin. He was the only one still alive who could provide answers.

  She asked Jerry Foster a few more questions, then brought up the one subject that gave her pause. “Was there any real evidence that connected Paul to the murders?” If her suspicions were true and she was Alicia Renfield, that meant her own father might have killed her mother. It was a lot to wrap her head around and she didn’t want to jump to the conclusion without reason, despite what everyone else believed. Her work was based on facts, not long-held conjecture.

  “All I know is there was evidence of murder and Paul was nowhere to be found. If the police discovered actual evidence that implicated him, they didn’t share it.”

  And without access to the police records, she might never find it. Back to square one. She chatted with him for a few minutes about the paper and how the town had changed in the past thirty years before thanking him for his help.

  “I understand your fascination with this case,” Jerry told her. “But I doubt you’re going to uncover anything groundbreaking. If you can find Paul Renfield and make him pay for what he did that night, that would be good. I, for one, would like to know why he did it. Motive is the one question that’s haunted me all these years about that case. I can believe jealousy might lead a man to kill his wife, but why the baby?”

  “I hope I can answer that question for you, Jerry, and maybe even a few others you didn’t even know to ask.” Someone wanted her to stop investigating, which meant someone in this town was hiding something to do with this case. There were answers out there to be found, and she was intent on finding them.

  She thanked him for speaking with her and he shook both their hands before they left.

  Once they were out the door, Quinn turned to her, his tone sharp. “What was that?”

  “What was what?”

  “Why were you asking so many questions about how they found Alicia Renfield? I thought you didn’t believe she died. Didn’t you say someone left her at a church a few days later?”

  She followed him to the truck, where he opened the passenger-side door. “There’s no way she was lying in the rubble all that time until Jay Englin found her. Something else happened that night and I want to know what it is. The only way I can do that is to blow holes in the official story.” But if Jerry Foster couldn’t give her the real story, how would she ever find it? She got inside but turned to him before he shut the door, hoping he could help here more than he realized. “I really wish I could have a look at the investigative records or even your grandfather’s notes on the case. He must have had a reason for covering all this up.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her as if trying to read her. “My grandfather was a good man, Dana.” He slammed the truck door, then walked around and slid into the driver’s seat. She’d hit a nerve.

  “Tell me about him. Help me get to know him. He was a major player in this case. There’s no denying that. The more I know about him, the better I can form my opinions.”

  “He’s not your story,” he replied curtly, then turned back in his seat and started the truck. He was obviously not ready to talk about his grandfather to her.

  As they drove, she broached another subject she wanted to ask him about. “How did you know about the diesel fuel used to start the fire?”

  His jaw clenched and his hands gripped the steering wheel. He was suddenly on guard again at such a simple question. “I’ve seen something like it,” he said, but he didn’t elaborate. He was obviously holding something back, which only made the reporter in her itch to know more.

  “In the military?”

  He paled. “What?” He shot her a look of confusion that she didn’t believe. He was definitely holding something back, something he didn’t want her to know. It disappointed her to see the change in him, but it didn’t surprise her. He was already guarded with her about his grandfather. Perhaps he now believed she might turn her focus to him if he told her too much about his past. She tried not to take it personally. Most of the people she interviewed were watchful about what they said because they never knew if their deepest darkest secrets would be televised. But she wasn’t in town as a reporter and she wasn’t working a case for her show. He might not know that, but his mistrust stung.

  “I’ve been around military men before, Quinn. What branch were you in?”

  He gripped the steering wheel again but this time gave her an answer. “I was in the army. Look, Dana, I don’t really like to talk about myself. If you don’t mind, I’d prefer it if you dropped the subject.”

  He must have seen combat, she realized. She’d interviewed many soldiers whose experiences in combat had caused them to shut down. In fact, he reminded her so much of the way Rizzo had been during their first meeting, closed off and distant. It wasn’t any surprise to find that Quinn didn’t want to discuss his time in the military with her. She nodded and accepted his request without hesitation. “Of course,” she said, but it saddened her because she did want to get to know this man. He had a protective nature that she found appealing and she admired the way he stood up for his family. And she appreciated his willingness to help her. She only wanted to know him better and she realized it had nothing at all to do with the case she was working on.

  It was probably for the best, though. She wasn’t looking for a relationship. They always ended with her getting hurt. “Mind if I turn on the radio?” she asked, needing to fill the awkward silence in the cab.

  He nodded that it was fine and she reached over and hit the knob. The radio was tuned to a news station covering the embassy attack. Finally, something they could discuss that didn’t have any implications between them. “Have you heard about this? I was fortunate enough to interview some of the people that were rescued from inside the embassy by security operatives from a nearby covert base. I also interviewed Rizzo Ricardo about his experiences as one of those operatives. They really were heroes. Did you know the government ordered them to not intervene? They wanted to protect their covert operations in the country. Everyone inside that embassy would have died if those eight
men hadn’t defied orders.” Remembering Rizzo’s story of that night, she shuddered. Those men had been true heroes, running into the blackest diesel-fuel fires started by insurgents when others would have fled to safety. “I only wish the other operatives would come forward and tell their stories as well. What I wouldn’t give to know the names of the other men involved.”

  His face reddened and his eyes suddenly blazed as he looked at her. “Don’t you realize that by coming forward, they would be putting their lives in danger. At the very least, their livelihoods? Once their faces are splashed all over TVs across the world, they would never be able to work covert security again.”

  She sighed, seeing they were once again on opposite sides of a situation. Big surprise. She should have expected it. It seemed that if she said the world was round, he would argue with her that it was flat. “Something very important happened that night, Quinn. Someone has to be held responsible and these men can shed a light on that tragedy. Don’t you want to know who to blame?”

  “The ones to blame are the terrorists who attacked the embassy. Everything else is just politics. Those men did their jobs. I say leave them alone.”

  “People died, Quinn, and according to Rizzo, the government did nothing to assist. Don’t you think the White House has to answer to that?”

  He shook his head, a disgusted expression on his face. “You’re always looking for the story, aren’t you, Dana?”

  His accusation stung, but she felt an angry heat rise up her neck. “I only want the truth.”

  “What makes you think you’re entitled to the truth?” He pulled into the hotel parking lot and stopped the truck, kicking it into Park. He turned to her. “This may go against your reporter sensibilities, but the public doesn’t have the right to know about everything that happens. Some things are better left alone.”

  “Not this,” she insisted.

  “Why not? What gives you the right to dig in to this story?”

  “My government did something unthinkable by leaving those people, our people, to die inside that embassy. It’s my duty as a citizen to make sure they pay for their lack of action.”

  “And the Renfield case? What gives you the right to pry into it? This isn’t your town. You have no duty here.”

  She shook her head, amazed that he hadn’t yet figured out why she was really in town. “You saw the note written in your grandfather’s hand. Where do you think I got that? I found it in my adopted mother’s belongings when she died, along with newspaper clippings about the Renfield murders. Don’t you get it, Quinn? I was the child that was left at that church thirty years ago. I’m Alicia Renfield.”

  He sat back in his seat, a look of shock and horror written across his face. She’d thought he’d figured it out by now, but apparently she’d been wrong.

  “I want to know the truth. If I’m really her or not, and if I am, I want to know what happened to my parents that night and how I ended up at some church miles away from here.”

  He leaned into the steering wheel, obviously still trying to wrap his brain around this new piece of information. Would it make a difference to him? She liked having him on her side and hoped this wouldn’t change things between them.

  He shut off the ignition then opened the door. “Come on. I’ll walk you to your room.”

  No word about helping her or even taking her hand to make sure she was steady this time. She really had shaken him.

  They rode the elevator to her new room on the fourth floor in silence but she felt his presence. After all she’d been through today, she was glad to have him by her side and hoped that wouldn’t change. She couldn’t imagine going back out into the world of West Bend without Quinn Dawson.

  It was silly. She’d never needed anyone with her before. But then she realized that wasn’t true. She always had someone with her—her producer or a cameraman. She’d gotten so used to it that she hadn’t even realized how alone she was on this project until she’d needed someone and Quinn had shown up.

  The elevator doors slid open and he walked with her to her room. He spotted something and she felt him tense. He stepped in front of her and stopped her in her tracks, motioning for her to remain quiet. She saw it then, the way her door was ajar. She definitely hadn’t left it that way and she’d even placed the Do Not Disturb sign on it to prevent housekeeping from entering.

  Someone had been inside her room. Again.

  Quinn nudged the door open and his face paled as he looked inside. She rushed to him and pushed past his arm. The room was empty, but over the bed hung one of her publicity photos from her show. It was attached to the wall with a butcher knife through her face and the words Go Home sprawled across the bottom. The papers on her evidence wall had been ripped down and torn into pieces, and were lying on the carpet.

  Horror and fear bit at her and she turned away quickly and leaned into Quinn’s chest. He wrapped a protective arm around her and pulled her close, then moved her until the threatening photo was out of her sight.

  “Don’t you worry, Dana,” he whispered to her. “No one is going to hurt you again. I’m going to make sure of it.”

  She took comfort in his reassurance. At least she was no longer alone in this.

  THREE

  Quinn pulled Dana from the room and back down the hall to the elevators. She was shaking and he couldn’t blame her. Seeing that image of her with a knife through her face had shaken him, too.

  He led her into the lobby and called Milo over to sit with her while he phoned his brother and explained the situation. He turned to look at her, noticing again how fragile she seemed, but she wasn’t. She was strong. He’d seen it firsthand. But even strong people had their limits. Would this be the thing that finally sent her away?

  This was his town and it had always been a good place to live. He’d imagined one day raising kids here and not having to worry about the dangers of big-city life. But now, it seemed, evil was lurking, watching and waiting for the opportunity to strike, and it had chosen its target.

  Rich arrived with a forensics team and Quinn joined him upstairs while they combed through her hotel room, snapping photos of the scene and bagging the knife to test for prints and DNA. He hoped it would be as simple as a fingerprint match, but he doubted it would. Whoever was doing this had been smart. He’d kept his face hidden from the cameras at both the hotel and the hospital. Surely, he’d also worn gloves when staging this display, but they could hope he’d gotten cocky and missed something they could use to track him.

  Quinn’s brother pulled him aside. “Any ideas who might have done this?”

  He shook his head. “No one comes to mind, but it must have something to do with the Renfield case. All this started happening when Dana arrived in town to investigate it.”

  “That case is thirty years old.”

  “The guy who attacked her at the hospital told her she was sticking her nose in where it didn’t belong. As far as I know, the Renfield case is all she’s looked into.”

  “Quinn, you’re not thinking like a cop. It’s more likely this has to do with her than with the Renfield case. She’s a celebrity and she’s on TV. She probably has a stalker who followed her to town.”

  That was a possibility he hadn’t thought of. “She never mentioned a stalker.”

  “Maybe she didn’t even know she had one. He might not have shown himself until she arrived here in town alone. Or maybe it’s someone local who saw their opportunity to get to her.”

  He rubbed a hand over his face. Rich was probably right. It made more sense than that someone who’d gotten away with murder thirty years ago would have a grudge against Dana or some dark secret she might bring to light. Except the threats seemed connected to the case.

  “I’ll go talk to her,” Rich offered. “You should head home. I’ll handle this.”

  “No, I want to stay and make sure everything is okay
before I leave.”

  Rich paused and stared at him. “What are you even doing here with her, Quinn? Are you getting close to this woman?”

  “What? No. I was there when she was attacked at the hospital and I wanted to make sure she made it safely to her room tonight. I walked her up.” Even to his own mind, his explanation sounded weak. He shouldn’t have been at the hospital in the first place and he certainly shouldn’t have volunteered to drive her around afterward. He was supposed to be keeping a low profile away from her. Instead, he’d spent the evening with her.

  He followed Rich downstairs to where Dana was still sitting in the lobby, an armed deputy nearby watching for trouble. She was finally starting to get some color back into her face and he was glad to see it.

  “Dana, you remember my brother, Rich? You two met at the sheriff’s department.”

  She stood and reached for his hand. “Yes, it’s nice to see you again.”

  “You, too. I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances.” He motioned for Dana to sit, then slid up a chair for himself. Quinn took a seat between them. “Are you up for answering a few questions?”

  She pushed a handful of hair behind her ear and nodded. “Sure, I guess I am.”

  “Why don’t we go back to the beginning when this all started.”

  “The day after I arrived in town, I was at the coffee shop down the street and I thought I sensed someone watching me. That was before I returned here and found the threat spray-painted on the wall.”

  “You sensed someone was watching you? Did you see anyone?”

  “No, no one that seemed suspicious. People stare at me all the time. I’m on TV. Most of the time I can shrug it off, but this felt different. It felt sinister.”