Chapter 27

“He’s on the afternoon docket so let’s make this quick, shall we?” FBI Agent Sally Roux was briefing Eva Lewis before she went in for her interview with Tom McDaniels.

Eva was grateful for the interview, but she didn’t appreciate Agent Roux’s attitude. She smiled at Sally and replied, “We’ll see about that, shall we?”

Sally let that one slide. She was too happy. Today was Tom McDaniel’s bail hearing and there was no way in hell that he was going to get out on bail. He had promised to tell her the truth after he was allowed to speak with Eva Lewis. A confession from the Demon King himself was something Sally couldn’t wait for.

The interview was happening in the main interrogation room. Tom was to be handcuffed while an officer remained in the room with them. Eva didn’t mind but she looked at the table and chairs which weren’t bolted to the floor. She felt safer with the officer in the room.

Eva waited for Tom to be brought in. Sally had already left to view on the other side through the two way mirror. Tom’s lawyer was also with Sally per his client’s instructions.

As the officer brought Tom in, Eva tensed up. He looked a little wild. No longer allowed to wear his green contacts, his pale blue eyes added to the illusion of his wildness.

“Hi Eva,” Tom greeted her. “I’m glad you came.”

Eva cleared her throat, “Hi Tom. How’ve you been?”

He laughed, “How do you think?”

Eva ignored that question, “Why did you ask to speak with me Tom? I’m happy to interview you, but why me?”

“You know why.”

“No, Tom. I don’t.”

“I asked for you because I need your help.” Tom seemed agitated.

Before he could explain, Eva interrupted him, “I met your father Tom.”

Tom seemed surprised. “Why would you do that?”

“Because he’s the father of the man that is now being accused as the Demon King.”

He was silent for a moment. “Do you really believe that? That I’m a serial killer?”

Eva shrugged, “I don’t know. You tell me.”

“Cut the crap Eva. We both know that I’m not the murderer. I would never have-” Tom was cut off by Eva again.

“Fine. Let’s talk about your family. Shall we talk about Beatrice?”

Tom raised his head and in a low deadly voice, he asked, “What did you just say?”

“You had a sister named Beatrice. The last-”

“Shut up.” Tom’s tone became fierce but Eva continued, “The last time she was seen she was-”

Tom shouted, “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!”

The officer in the room told Tom to calm down. Tom became upset and began banging his forehead against the table. He was trying to block out her voice. The officer tried to intervene but Tom stood up. The look in his eyes was that of a wild animal. He shoved the officer with his shoulder and lifted the chair with his handcuffed hands. He threw it across the room, hitting the glass behind Eva. Then the officer tried restraining Tom. He was too strong in his anger and he was able to run around the table and shove Eva down. She hit her face on the edge of the table. Around this time, Eva heard Tom’s lawyer and a few other officers come in the room to help restrain him.

Eva could hear Tom’s lawyer shouting, “He has not been provided his medications. He would never have attacked anyone if he was properly taking his medications. I'm going to talk to your superiors about this.”

As Tom was being hauled away, Sally helped Eva up, “Are you alright?”

Eva gingerly touched her right cheek. “I’m fine. I shouldn’t have kept riling him up.”

“That’s true. He gets upset anytime you mention his family. This was a disaster and the lawyer's right. He needs to take his medication,” Sally remarked. “Tell me Ms. Lewis, what did McDaniels want help with?”

Eva shrugged, “He had asked me before to help him upset the Demon King. I told him I wouldn’t do it.”

Sally was confused, “He wanted you to piss off a serial killer? How?”

“He wanted me to write articles that would cause the Demon King to target me. He thought if I drew the killer out, he could be caught or something like that. I’m sorry Agent Roux, but I have to get going.” Eva started to make her way out of the now messy interrogation room. It had been a waste of an afternoon for her.

Sally Roux was disappointed. She knew she wasn’t going to get her confession from Tom McDaniels now. He still had the bail hearing in a few hours. She looked at her watch and reminded herself to follow up with Eva Lewis. She had a feeling that reporter knew more than she let on.

~AT THE LUDWIG POLICE STATION~

Jerry Gonzales was dead.

Everyone at the station was talking about it. David knew that Jerry had been dating Tiffany Sanchez. Hell, he had been there when Gonzales found her dead body. He would’ve had to have been blind not to notice that Gonzales had a personal connection to the victim. Besides, David had seen the two of them together before she was killed. He also knew Gonzales had tried keeping his relationship with Tiffany under wraps. The picture of him and her together had everyone suspecting he killed himself because he was too grief stricken by her death.

“Hey Wilson, I’m sorry about Gonzales,” Detective James Smith said as he passed David.

David gave the same answer he had been giving all day, “I can’t believe it. He seemed fine the last time I saw him.”

Detective Smith gave him a consoling look and walked away. David was tired of the sympathy parade. Truth be told, Jerry Gonzales was an ass and the two never really got along. David just liked to see Jerry get upset. David looked at the clock on his phone. He wondered why Eva hadn’t called him. He got up to call her when another detective offered his condolences. David thanked him and made sure the other man had walked away before rolling his eyes.

~THAT AFTERNOON AT THE COURTHOUSE~

Kevin Landers was sitting in the aisle behind Tom McDaniels and his attorney. He had been listening to Tom’s attorney explain that Tom was being framed and had never been arrested in the past. He went on to say that the evidence had all been circumstantial, the bones were planted, and none of it had Tom’s DNA. He even mentioned the phrase “modern witch hunt.”

What the prosecuting attorney didn’t know was that Judge Warner was a golfing buddy of Tom McDaniels and Judge Warner’s son worked for Tom’s company. Judge Warner didn’t believe in the slightest that McDaniels could possibly be a serial killer. No one was more surprised than Agent Sally Roux when he set bail at five million dollars with the conditions that Tom McDaniels’ passport would be confiscated and he could not leave the city. It was her picture in the paper the next day next to Eva's headline, “FBI Stunned as McDaniels Makes Bail.” Tom McDaniels was out of jail within the hour which was just as well because according to Kevin, he had an appointment that evening.

~AT THE HOME OF EVA LEWIS~

Eva had an icepack over her cheek and eye. She was going to get a black eye from hitting the edge of that table this morning. Joelynn was coming down the stairs, when she saw her, “Oh my God, are you okay? What happened?”

Eva smiled wanly, “My face hit a table. Don’t worry about it, I’m okay. Where are you off to?”

Joelynn answered, “I was going to go on a date but I can stay home if you want me to.”

Eva stopped Joelynn, “No, you go on your date. I’m fine. I really just fell and hit a table. I’ll be fine as long as I put some ice on it. Will you be coming back home or are you going to Jacob’s house later?”

“I don’t know. Maybe to Jacob’s house. He hasn’t been responding to my phone calls or texts. That’s weird of him.”

“Okay, well be careful out there,” Eva warned.

“Yes ma’am,” Joelynn giggled and left the house.

As Joelynn got to the old café, she decided to sit at a table in the middle of the room. She checked her phone for messages and when she didn’t see any, she took out her mirror and began reapplying her lip gloss.

~ACROSS THE COFFEE SHOP~

He watched her put on her lip gloss and fix her hair. He took out his phone and snapped a quick picture of her. Then he stood up and walked towards her.

“Excuse me…”

Joelynn looked up into the palest blue eyes she had ever seen. “Uhmmm hi.”

“My battery just died and I need to call my wife. Do you have a phone charger by chance?”

Joelynn shook her head.

The man went on, “I really needed to call her. She’s pregnant. Do you think I could borrow your phone for a second?” The man pointed to her phone still on the table.

Joelynn was taken aback. This was weird, “Uh yeah, sure.”

“Thank you. You’re saving my life here.” She handed him the phone and he stepped away from the table. Her battery was already low. He took her battery out of the phone while she wasn’t looking. “Hey miss, your battery is dead too.”

“What?” Joelynn said as she grabbed the phone to try and check.

He laughed. “I think it’s this old building. It must be draining all of our batteries. I feel bad that it happened when you lent me your phone. I’ll tell you what…I’ll buy you a coffee. What would you like?”

Joelynn shook her head, “It’s okay. I’m here to meet someone.”

He insisted, “I’ll feel terrible otherwise.”

She finally gave in and after a few minutes, he brought her a caramel latte, “I’ve got to get going but thanks again.”

He walked out the building and got into his car.

It was a waiting game now.

She was waiting for her date and he was waiting for her. Once she realized her date wouldn’t show up, she would have to come outside to get back into her car which was parked in the back of the building. He purposely picked this time because the café was always full enough that the only place to park was the back parking lot.

He looked over to the passenger seat where a crown of white flowers lay. Soon he would give them an owner.