“Yes, he’s the primary on the case. I’m just following up.” Karen sat right down and made herself comfortable. Not her first time at the rodeo with Wes. “This won’t take long.”
She began with questions about Tanner: how long they had worked together, and if Wes had ever seen him do anything questionable with a woman.
“I never saw him act inappropriately,” Wes said. “When we were outside of the office, at a bar or a restaurant, I saw him talk to women. Flirt with them. But nothing inappropriate.”
“Did you ever see him become violent? With anyone?”
“No.”
“Let’s talk about Bianca,” Karen says. “How well did you know her?”
“She had been our administrative assistant for about a year. I always thought she was professional and good at her job.”
“What about her relationship with Tanner?”
Wes shrugged a little. “As far as I know, there was no relationship. They were colleagues.”
“So they weren’t involved.”
“I never saw anything to indicate that.”
Louis probably asked all the same questions, and a hundred more, but Wes didn’t remind her of that. He answered like this was the first time he had heard them. A lot of other people she interviews get impatient and complain, but not Wes.
It wasn’t normal. And when that happens, it means something. At least it does to an experienced detective.
“What about you?” she asked. “Did you have a personal relationship with Bianca?”
“No. I think the only time I saw her outside of work was at the holiday party.”
“So,” Karen said, “it was nothing like your relationship with Ivy.”
Wes broke eye contact. She could almost see the wheels grinding in his head as he caught up to what the interview was truly about.
He could’ve responded by asking why she was really here, or why she was asking about his girlfriend. He could’ve become angry and told her to get out. Or he could have picked up the phone and called Louis to ask him what the hell was going on.
Wes did none of that.
“I don’t see how the two are similar,” he said.
“I didn’t say they were.”
“Again, I don’t understand how Ivy is relevant to Tanner and Bianca.” Wes sat back in his chair, his hands clasped together, and he looked relaxed. Cool.
It reminded Karen of her husband. He used to sit just like that, looking at her the same way.
“You sound defensive,” she said, although Wes didn’t.
“I’m confused.”
He shouldn’t have been. Wes must have known she had asked Ivy about her stolen car. Karen had no doubt Ivy was the type who would tell her partner everything. Unlike Wes.
“I’m thinking about the potential relationship part of this,” she said, taking her tone down a little. “I’ve been trying to figure out if Tanner and Bianca had one, if perhaps they were arguing about it when this happened. I’m sure you can relate, given your relationship with Ivy. You described it as intense. Maybe Tanner and Bianca were the same.”
“Like I said, I never saw anything like that.”
“I understand. I just thought with your experience, you might have some insight.” Karen smiled. She knew more than Wes realized, because Ivy has been active on social media for years. She had posted about how they first met, and about their first fight. “You and Ivy have clearly broken up and gotten back together a few times.”
“As far as I know,” Wes said, “Tanner and Bianca weren’t personally involved.”
Karen backed down then, not pressing the issue further. She was already too far out of bounds and well outside the scope of her job. This wasn’t her case.
She shouldn’t have been talking to Wes about Tanner, and she certainly shouldn’t have been trying to connect Tanner with Wes and Ivy’s relationship. If Wes had picked up the phone and called Louis, she would’ve been demoted at best. Fired at worst.
But she also would’ve bet every dime she had that Wes would not call anyone. The last thing he wanted was to draw attention to himself—especially attention from the police. She knew that.
She knew a lot of things.
Like the fact that Ivy once worked at the Fine Line gentlemen’s club. Her name had popped up when Karen searched through the court records to see if Ivy had ever been sued or had sued someone. She had not. But six years ago, the Fine Line had declared bankruptcy. According to the club’s court filing, Ivy had been an employee who worked for four hours. She was never paid and never worked there again.
The one night she worked at the club was the same night her car was stolen.
Ivy had called the police almost a full day after her car had gone missing. According to her statement, she thought Wes had borrowed it. She reported it stolen after realizing he hadn’t.
That case isn’t one of Karen’s, either, and she has even less business asking about it. But after being a cop for so many years, there is one thing Karen knows to be a fact.
There are no coincidences.
28
Wes pretends not to watch Karen get in her car and drive away from the funeral home. He doesn’t say a word about the bomb she just dropped.
“Want to grab a cup of coffee?” Ivy says. She has that We need to talk tone.
“Can’t. I have to go back to work.”
Long pause.
“Okay,” she says. “I guess I should do the same thing.”
Her voice is normal, even relaxed, and so is the expression on her face. She picks a piece of lint off the collar of his jacket. But he can feel her anger. It radiates off her like heat from the kitchen when she burns something.
No, he didn’t tell her Karen had come to see him a few days ago. Damn right he didn’t.
“I’ll call you later.” He leans over to kiss her. Cheek, not lips.
Wes leaves her standing in front of the funeral home and heads to his car. Doesn’t look back, either. She has her own car. Ivy can get herself to work, if that’s where she’s going. Maybe she is lying, maybe she isn’t. Right now, he doesn’t care.
He drives away, cranking the music up as he pulls out of the parking lot. Ivy came to the funeral, yes. Showed up and said, “I’m here,” like she wanted a gold star.
Aggravating, to be sure. But not why he’s angry.
Ivy has conveniently forgotten that this mess with Karen is because of her. He wouldn’t have to answer questions about their past if Ivy hadn’t lost her mind. Because even for them, this was way too far.
Faking a stalker was bad enough. Calling the police and offering up his name was on another level. Now he has a stalker of his own: Karen. Of all the women in the world, a detective. Wes’s mistake was not being angrier about this in the first place.
For the past day, all he has done is think about that night. That car. Like he doesn’t have a hundred other things he should be thinking about. The worst part is, it should’ve been nothing. A footnote to their story, not a chapter. And definitely not a whole section.
* * *
—
Wes is still thinking about it when he pulls into the Siphon parking lot. He turns down the music and sits in his car, taking a minute to calm down, clear his head.