Chapter Twenty

The one interview room Pickleville's police station had used to be something else before the one-way mirrored window went in, and someone had added a table and three chairs. It was about the size of a janitorial closet, so Andrew suspected that was what it had been before the police moved into the space.

It was well into the morning, and Andrew hadn't slept yet. Exhaustion had come and gone. In its place was a weird, high feeling, and he had a headache. He knew if he sat down for any length of time, he'd fall under in seconds.

He didn't have time to sit, though. Instead, he stood watching Dominic Lincoln through a one-way mirror. Foley stood beside him with Olivia on the other side.

Dominic was older than Brett. According to the file, by three years like Kyler had said, but he also appeared weathered in ways that had everything to do with drug use. Whatever his drug of choice, he was physically addicted. He acted like his stomach hurt with the way he bent forward and sweat dampened his hair and shirt. He mumbled to himself and lay against the table as if he were in his own house and not at a station.

Olivia had the rape files in her hand. "Are you sure you want me interviewing him?"

Andrew nodded. "When the report comes back from the last rape, it'll say it's him. We all know that. You can use that to your advantage."

"How?"

"He's addicted and impulsive. He's not nearly as smart as his brother. He left DNA behind at the scene. The other rapes were much more controlled. Thought out. He didn't commit those first crimes, but he knows who did." They all knew who did it. They just needed to find the fucker.

Olivia bit her bottom lip. When she let it go, she headed into the room with Dominic without a word.

The second he saw her, he started whining. "I need a doctor. I think I'm dying."

Olivia sat in the chair close to the door and put the file folder on the table. She opened it and shuffled papers around. "We'll get you a doctor. You have to tell me your side of things."

He shook his head. "I already know I'm going to jail. The chief caught me."

"Not just jail, Dominic. Prison. For attempted murder." Olivia put photos in front of him. "And for each one of these rapes."

Andrew folded his arms over his chest.

Dominic shook his head. "I didn't do any of that. I just hurt Robyn."

"Okay." Olivia leaned back in her seat. "Let's start there. Tell me what happened."

"Little asshole told the chief I messed with that girl. He needed to pay."

"Why were you out at the Nieves property?"

"Step-Daddy sent me out to get Brett."

"Why would Brett be out there?"

Dominic clammed up.

"Listen. You're going down for all of this. We found your DNA at the last crime scene. You're already going away for a long time. Why go to prison for the crimes you didn't commit?"

Dominic's shoulders slumped, and he sighed. "Brett makes drugs on the west, back corner of Nieves's land."

Andrew looked at Foley. "We'll go out as soon as she finishes."

"Why there?"

"Because old man Nieves is too old to notice. Geoff is the old man's grandson. He and Brett are tight. Like super tight, if you know what I mean." Dominic made a crude gesture with his fingers insinuating Brett and Geoff had sex. "Step-Daddy would kill Brett if he knew he fucked guys. Brett ain't about to get caught doing that, but Geoff…he wanted to tell the damn world. He's the one who did that guy at TJs bar. Brett did the girls. That's all I know, man."

Andrew stiffened and reevaluated all his suspicions, going over the case in his mind. "Brett's blood."

"Maybe Geoff found out Brett was raping all those people and got angry," Foley offered

"If we don't count the girl as Brett's victim, then the last victim was the one at Kendrick's bar."

"A man."

"Geoff tried to prove a point?" Andrew shook his head.

Foley shrugged. "Like he could fuck whoever he wanted, and Brett couldn't tell him any different."

"Maybe."

Olivia's next question stole his attention. "What drug does Brett make?"

Dominic gave Olivia a look that said more than anything could that he was scared of the answer. "I gotta talk to the chief."

Andrew didn't wait for Olivia to respond. Instead, he walked into the room.

As soon as Dominic saw him, he got right to the point. "I'll tell you everything I know, but you gotta promise to protect me from him."

"You tell me, and I'll talk to the DA about lessening your sentence."

Dominic shook his head. "Don't send him to the same prison as me, man. I mean it."

Andrew wouldn't promise shit. Not to the fucker who hurt Robyn. "I'll see what I can do. For right now, Brett can't get to you."

"Not my brother. Brett wouldn't do that to me. Hell, I'd wipe the floor with Brett, and he fucking knows it." Dominic did have a sizeable advantage on Brett. He might whine and moan like a baby, but he wasn't one. "I don't want Geoff anywhere near me."

Andrew nodded. "What drug was Brett making?"

"GHB." Dominic didn't hesitate. "He told Step-Daddy he was going out to Geoff's. We haven't seen him since. Step-Daddy sent me out there."

"Did you find him?"

"No. Didn't even look like Brett had been around. I heard Robyn talking. It turned out he was talking to some horse. Since he's a fucking snitch, I got my own form of justice."

"Did you assault Mackenzie Freeman?"

"Yes. Saw her walking on the sidewalk, and I was done selling to Robyn. Figured it would look like the other rapes." Dominic shrugged as if he were talking about fucking a blowup doll and not a real person.

Nausea rose in his throat. Fighting it off made his stomach hurt. Andrew took a step in his direction, leaning on the table until he got right in Dominic's face. Andrew wanted to beat the shit out of Dominic while handcuffed to the desk.

As much as he wanted to rail Dominic with the fact that he'd hurt a child, Andrew knew he wouldn't respond to that. Dominic just didn't care. Instead, he said, "You were sloppy. Not like your brother."

Andrew straightened and then touched Olivia's shoulder in a silent gesture for her to follow him out. She gathered up the file first.

As soon as the door clicked shut behind them, Andrew started giving orders. "Go out to Nieves farm again and look for Brett's operation. See what you can find. Then talk to the old man again. Lean on him if you have to. Call me if you find Brett or Geoff. Be careful. They both could be dangerous. I'm going to shakedown the Lincoln's. They know more than they're saying."

It wasn't even ten minutes later that Olivia called him. By then, Andrew was almost to the Lincolns' property. "We found a body."

He turned in the middle of the road, heading toward the crime scene.

It took Andrew a good fifteen minutes to make it through the thick forest. A walking trail existed, but the path was no bigger than one an animal would make. Andrew could've easily overlooked it and had when he'd been out there.

The shed looked as if it had seen better days. Darkness surrounded it even during late morning, giving it an abandoned feel. It was as if it had been there for a long time at first glance. Upon closer inspections, Andrew noticed the newness of the nails. The wood appeared reclaimed and had nail holes in places that didn't make sense to the building.

If it weren't for Foley moving around inside, snapping pictures, he wouldn't have heard anything unnatural. He left Foley to do his thing inside, not wanting to contaminate the evidence more than necessary. And Foley proved himself when it came to evidence collecting so Andrew didn't micro-manage.

Andrew couldn't see Olivia at first, but the smell of death hung in the air, reminiscent of cases past. It wasn't until Andrew went around the east side of the shack that he saw it. Andrew drew a handkerchief out of his coat pocket. He'd learned when he first started on homicide to carry something to cover his mouth and nose. The habit stuck.

Overgrown foliage concealed most of the body from view. Just his legs were visible, and even then, someone had to look for them as the darkness of his brown pants blended well enough. The pants were the type a farmer would wear and probably were coveralls of some kind.

Given that Dominic had been searching for a living, breathing person, Andrew could see how he overlooked it. The sweet, cloying smell of death was another matter, though he could have taken it for a large animal.

Someone had propped the body against the side of the shack in a sitting position covered by a plaid blanket. The covering had seen better days.

Andrew stood next to Olivia, who handed him a pair of gloves.

"It's Brett Lincoln. I lifted a corner of the blanket and looked," Olivia whispered.

Andrew sucked in a breath before holding it. He took the handkerchief away from his mouth just long enough to put on the gloves. He covered his mouth before he bent down.

"Geoff and Brett had a lover's spat, maybe? One got pissed at the other. Things turned deadly." Andrew lifted the hand peeking out from under the blanket. "No obvious signs of a gunshot wound, so it wasn't an execution."

"I think they raped those women together. Then Geoff killed Brett. Geoff raped the man on his own."

Andrew nodded. "So, his death wasn't premeditated."

"Yep."

The coroner's report will tell them more, but Olivia's working theory was probably correct.

Andrew let his hand go and straightened. They needed assistance. He walked away, taking off one of his gloves and pulling out his phone.

He wanted to run as far away from death as he could get. He'd come to Pickleville to get away from it, but somehow it was a constant companion. Once he finished calling in reinforcements, he called Kyler.

Kyler answered on the first ring. "Hey. You okay?"

"Why would you ask that?"

"Don't know. Just have a feeling."

"No." Andrew cleared his throat. "No. I'm not okay."

"Anything I can do to help?"

Andrew smiled, and some of his anxiety lifted. "You are. Just stay inside and safe."

"You haven't slept yet, have you?" And there it was. The reason Andrew had been stupid to push Kyler away after that first time. Someone cared.

"Not yet, carino. Can I come over when I get done?"

Kyler chuckled. "You're asking now? You practically live here, silly. Of course, you can."

"I'll be home in a few hours."

"Make it soon. You need to rest."

If he'd had Kyler in his life when he first became a homicide detective, he would have been able to give the department a few more years. Kyler held a magic key to Andrew's soul, and that kept him going.