Jamie Simmons said nothing. He just kept a tight arm around his wife. Before she could say another word, he jerked the door shut, forcing Gus to move out of the way. Then Jamie and Erin Simmons disappeared down the stairwell.
“My God,” I said. “She doesn’t understand what’s coming.”
“I think she understands plenty,” Sam said. “It sounds like Hayden broke down and told her everything about two hours ago. Jamie Simmons knew exactly why he got called down here. He was trying to play you, Gus.”
“Dammit,” Gus said. “I need that house secure. I want to make it over there before they do. The deputies are sitting on it, but I want to get there.”
“We’ll be right behind you,” Sam said. I just hoped word of what happened in this building hadn’t yet spread beyond it.
6
“Do you really think it’s possible he’ll find anything else after all this time?” I asked. I sat in the passenger seat of Sam’s cruiser. Gus arrived with four other deputies in tow. Two minutes later, Jamie Simmons pulled up, his wife with him.
“No one’s touching anything until my lawyer gets here,” Jamie said. Sam and I stepped out of the car and walked up to join Gus.
“You’ve been duly served with a valid warrant,” Gus said. “The longer you try to obstruct me from doing my job, the worse this gets.”
The front door opened. Hayden Simmons stepped out. She looked like she was about to be sick.
“I’ve got this,” I whispered to Sam. Erin Simmons turned positively purple. She charged across the lawn, trying to get to her daughter before I did.
“Mom, stop,” Hayden said.
“You have no idea what you’ve done,” Erin yelled.
I had hoped we could have conducted this without drawing too much attention. Simmons’s home was mercifully on a quiet cul-de-sac by itself. No one would have seen all the activity unless they purposely drove by.
Another car pulled in behind the Simmons’s. An attorney I recognized from Toledo, an expensive one, stepped out. His name escaped me. But Erin or Jamie must have called him before he even came to the station.
“Mom,” Hayden said. “I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not the one you should be mad at.”
“Not the one I should be mad at. You’re trying to ruin our lives! You have no idea how long it took for all of us to put the pieces back together.”
“That’s enough.” Jamie’s lawyer stepped forward, getting in between Erin and Hayden Simmons. For his part, Jamie stayed surprisingly calm. He stood near his vehicle, wearing an almost jovial expression.
“You’re Ms. Brent?” the lawyer asked.
“I am,” I said. “Mara Brent. I’m the assistant prosecutor.”
“Of course. I’m Bennett Cutler.” He handed me his business card. “I’d like to see a copy of the warrant.”
Gus came up and handed him one. Cutler scowled as he looked it over.
“All right,” he said. “But I’ll accompany your deputies. They don’t go anywhere I can’t see them.”
“That’s not how this works,” Gus said.
“It’s how it works for my clients, Detective.”
I watched every muscle in Gus Ritter’s body go rigid. He took a step forward.
“Mr. Cutler, if you so much as breathe in the direction of my deputies, you’ll be sitting in the back of one of those cruisers with cuffs on yourself.”
“This is ridiculous,” Erin said. “This is my home. Our home. Do you see what you’ve done, Hayden? Whatever you find in there, she put it in there!”
“Erin, that’s enough,” Cutler advised her. “Why don’t you just sit over there with Jamie? Let me do my job.”
“I didn’t plant anything,” Hayden said. “You know exactly what I found, Dad!”
