Dead Lies

EXCERPT
THE LIES THEY TOLD, by Cybele Loening


The man began running toward the house. He was big, at least six-foot-three or -four, and broad-shouldered. With blond hair that shone white in the beam of the headlights, he looked like a Viking charging into battle. Even with his speed and the intensity of his movement, Anna detected an awkwardness to his gait, as if one leg was longer than the other. The imbalance was barely noticeable, but it was there. “Police, freeze!” He didn’t stop. She repeated her command. The man kept running. Anna chased him. She was half his size but clearly faster, and it took only seconds to catch up with him. One swift kick to the back of his right knee sent him crashing to the ground. He groaned and rolled over, looking up at her with a mixture of outrage and desperation.“You’ve got to go inside,” he gasped, breathing heavily, his face a mask of pain. “My sister…she’s hurt.”Anna paused, sizing him up even in the heat of the moment. With a shadow of a late-afternoon beard and a nose that had obviously been broken at one time, he wasn’t exactly good-looking. He had more of a rough-and-sexy appeal. She liked that type, in part because he was the exact opposite physical type as her ex-husband. Anna guessed a smile from the man might bump him into the handsome category, but he was glaring at her angrily, so for now she could only wonder. His female companion, a woman with dark brown hair and matching brown eyes, rushed over, with Paul in tow. “We’re the ones who called you,” she screamed in desperation.The woman was clearly telling the truth. Neither of the two was wearing a coat, which suggested they had rushed over here. That also meant there was no place for either of them to hide a gun. But there was an even better reason to believe them. They were both wearing dress shoes. No criminal she’d ever run across had worn shoes like that to a robbery. “Please,” the man pleaded. “You have got to get in there.”Anna ignored him. “Does your sister own a gun?” she demanded.The man shot his sister a look. Neither answered.“Does she have a gun?” Anna repeated more forcefully. It was a question she was used to asking witnesses since it seemed like every criminal in the city had one.“I think Bill does,” the man spat. “He’s a defense lawyer in New York City…”“Bill’s your sister’s husband?” she interrupted.“Yes. He’s a lawyer now, but was a cop.” His eyes darted toward the house. He looked furious now, like the kind of man who wasn’t used to getting knocked to the ground or following commands by others. He was the kind of guy used to giving them. “Officer, please,” he growled. Anna nodded and drew her gun. She looked at Paul and said quickly, “Go around the other side and meet me in back.” Then she told the pair, “You two stay here. And don’t move.”The man looked like he wanted to argue, but a glance at the lower half of his still-prostrate figure told her he wouldn’t. There was a jagged protrusion where his left shin should have been. Anna suddenly realized why he hadn’t tried to get up after his fall. The man had a prosthetic leg, and it must have snapped loose when she took him down. No wonder he couldn’t stand.Anna felt a mild flash of shame for further disabling a crippled man. But of course she hadn’t known. And even if she had, she wouldn’t have done anything differently. She was doing her job.She turned away. Carefully starting up the driveway, she searched for any movement in the windows or in the shadows of the yard. There was nothing. The smell of wood-smoke wafted over from a nearby house, and she found it hard to reconcile the pleasant scent with the surreal nature of the situation. Fires signified happy families gathered around the hearth eating home-baked cookies and drinking hot chocolate, not scared loved ones making 9-1-1 calls. She gripped her gun tighter and moved silently forward on her rubber-soled shoes.Reaching the front corner of the house, she peered into the first window on her right. It was dark inside, but she could just make out the outline of a table and chairs and a large cabinet behind it. She moved further on, staying close to the house, and passed two sets of windows which revealed the kitchen. She guessed there’d be a door around back. Rounding the house, Anna stepped onto the grass and walked toward the small stone patio jutting into the yard. She didn’t like what she saw. A stream of light was leaking out between the door and its jamb, revealing bits of wooden splinters and glass scattered on the step in front of it. Forced open. Just like that break-in this fall. She had always wanted to be a cop and knew that she had the guts to take action in the face of danger. But she was not some superhero. Ever since that botched heroin bust last year, her confidence had been rattled.Anna wondered if she should wait for Frank and Sanjay to arrive. But that was probably what they expected a female cop to do. How would that make her look later?She felt another flash of shame. If someone inside needed help, it was her job to get to them as fast as she safely could. Someone could be hurt.Her adrenaline surged telling her it was time to move, now. When Paul appeared on the other side of the house, Anna gestured to him to come closer. She turned down the volume of the radio at her belt so it wouldn’t squawk and reveal her presence. She motioned for Paul to do the same and pointed to the door with a tilt of her head. She raised her Glock to the ready position, nodding as Paul followed suit. Her heart pounding, she gingerly pushed open the door with the tip of her boot and stepped inside the kitchen.