Page 25 of Dead O’Clock

“Not much,” Jude said. “None of the suspects we arrested and were later convicted have come up for parole yet. So, in terms of connecting Roderick Crews with us, it’s a no-go. I also looked up instances of Ronan coming into contact with Crews through various degrees of separation and there’s nothing. Do you know if you ever met Crews somewhere? At a police fundraiser or that shindig the governor invited us to a few years ago?”

“I never met him in my life,” Ronan said. He’d seen pictures of the murdered man and his face didn’t look even remotely familiar.

“What about you, Ronan? What did you learn about Miller?”

“I’m in the same boat as Jude. Miller is connected to Rhodes, but not to me. Only one person this unit has arrested was assigned Miller as a public defender and that happened when I was out on leave after being shot in that case we worked with Faulk.”

“Who arrested that suspect?” Fitz asked.

“It was Jude. With the two of us recovering from gunshot wounds, Jude was the only one left able-bodied on the team.”

“As for you, Ronan, I can’t find any connection between you and Damien Rhodes. We were both still working for the BPD when the man Rhodes was accused of killing was murdered and when Rhodes was sentenced. Like you said, none of this makes any sense.” Fitz sighed and took a seat at the conference table.

“What if the connection is Tennyson and not Ronan?” Jude suggested.

“I don’t understand. How?” Ronan hadn’t given Tennyson’s connection a thought.

“I’m not sure, but killing you would be a good way of getting back at Tennyson for something he did or Rhodes thought he did.”

“Shit,” Ronan muttered. “You might be right.”

“No,” Ten said. “He’s not.”

“Do you have proof to back that up, Ten?” Fitz asked.

Ten nodded. “There are several men Ronan arrested over the course of his career who served time at Walpole when Paul Jones was the warden. There are a dozen more men who served time in the jail when Jones was still a corrections officer. None of those cons are connected to Ronan with the exception of one.” Ten took a deep breath. “I also went back and looked at the times we visited the prison since Jones took over as warden and there’s only one case we worked that’s connected to Ronan and Jones.”

Ronan scanned his terrified brain. He had no idea what case Tennyson was talking about. “Who is he?”

“Josh Gatlin,” Ten said.

“No,” Ronan said. “It’s not possible.” He turned to Fitz. “Tell me this isn’t possible! That fucker is dead and out of our lives.”

“Explain, Tennyson,” Fitz urged.

“You were the one who arrested your ex-husband for the murder of Michael Frye and for kidnapping and assaulting me. Josh had no connection to Crews or to Miller. The only connections are you and Jones, who was a guard and the warden during Josh’s incarceration.”

Ronan was still confused. “You said there’s a connection to a time we visited the prison to work a case. I never met with Josh while he was inside.”

“I know you never met with him, Ronan.”

“Oh, shit. We worked Josh’s murder at the prison.” Jude’s mouth hung open like a fish out of water. “But I still don’t understand the connection between Josh, Ronan, and Rhodes.”

“When Rhodes came into West Side Magick the other day he taunted me about not knowing who he was or why he was there,” Ten said. “A few seconds before Warden Jones burst into the shop screaming, the man we now know is Damien Rhodes grabbed my hand. I felt his rage and then he showed me images. One of them was of a man lying prone and another man kneeling beside him. The man kneeling was you, Ronan. The dead man was Josh. I saw the flash of a headstone, but couldn’t read the name on it. I looked up Josh’s grave online and it’s the one I saw through Rhodes. He said that the reason he couldn’t connect with the person he loved was because of you, Ronan. You were the one who arrested Josh. You testified against him. You read a victim impact statement at his sentencing. You were the reason he was in prison, hence you’re the reason he’s dead.”

“You’re right. I did all of those things, but none of that explains how Josh was connected to Damien Rhodes.”

“Yes, it does,” Fitz said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Josh and Damien were lovers.”

“And cellmates for the first five years of Josh’s time at Walpole,” Ten said.

Ronan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Let me make sure I have this right. Damien Rhodes killed a man, was assigned Miller as his public defender who worked out a plea deal on his behalf, Jones was the warden while Rhodes was in prison, Crews denied his parole, and Rhodes is coming after them one at a time to exact his revenge. Last, and by no means least, Rhodes is coming for me because of my connection to Josh as his ex and as the man who arrested him. Is that what we’re saying here?”

“It all makes sense,” Jude said. “You all connect together through Damien.”

Fitz nodded. “I agree.”

“And this is what your gift is telling you, Ten?” Ronan asked, feeling weak in the knees.