The Husbands Debt

Part 1

“You know I wouldn’t worry about the food, Mag; everyone’s going to be looking at
the bride and groom.”
“What are you saying about my choice of food, Liv?” Maggie looked over at Olivia sitting at her desk.
“What? All I’m saying is I’m going to be the only sober person at your wedding. I’m going to be concentrating on that and, of course...” She smiled. “How I can make my bridesmaid dress blend into the background.” Olivia pulled at the lapels of her black jacket. Maggie got up and stood next to Olivia, noticing the Police Captain walking out of her office.
“The whole idea of mauve is so you can’t wear black for at least one day of your life.”
“Ha-ha.” The Captain entered the shared office, drawing attention.
“Morning. CD, Nate, I have a witness due to attend a hearing tomorrow that’s gone walk about. See if you can find her and keep her in town until tomorrow. Is narcotics so understandably she’s scared.”
“You two, head down to 25th. We had a high roller murdered this morning—a car bomb. Luckily, only one was in the car. But his wife saw it happen. Find out what she knows.”
“Yes, Cap” Maggie grabbed the file while Olivia grabbed her keys, making for the door.



“Check that out.” Olivia parked the car up towards the surrounding police vehicles.
“Nice house.” Maggie slipped off her seatbelt. With the file in hand, she got out of the vehicle. “Talk about a dream house.” She looked over at the two-story modern American dream home. They approached the yellow police tape, flashing their badges at the security guard nearby.
“Well, Mag, if Gabe got a recording contract, you too could live in a mansion like this. Wow, look at this.” Olivia slowed down, looking over the burned-out BMW.
“Not much left.” Maggie covered her nose, consciously knowing there was a body.
“Would have been a nice car.” Olivia shook her head. Maggie pulled her arm, leading her towards the house.
“You can dream, Liv, but you’ll never be able to afford one of those on your salary.” They followed the voices through the house to the kitchen.
“Who said? I’ll find me some rich husband who will buy me one.” They rounded the corner to a couple of officers and a blonde woman sitting at the kitchen table.
“Can’t wait to see that!” Mag smiled, acknowledging the officers in the room. Olivia heard her phone ringing in her pocket. “Hi, Mrs Devereux? I’m Inspector Bennett. That’s my partner, Inspector Sanchez,” She pointed to the back of Olivia, who’d turned away to take the call. “Sorry for your loss. Can you tell me what happened?”

Through her tears, the woman started to relay the events of the morning. Olivia finished her call, closing down her phone. Maggie noted the serious look on her face. Taking a seat next to her partner, Olivia tucked her phone back into her jacket pocket. Looking across from her, Mrs Devereux bowed her head, wiping away her tears.
“Mrs Devereux,” Olivia took a quick look at her partner. “Were you aware that your husband invested in a handful of businesses in the Los Vegas area?”
Mrs Devereux raised her head, recognizing the voice.
Olivia’s heart stopped as Mrs Devereux met her eyes. A small smile came to the corner of her lips.
“No, no, I didn’t know that.”
“Ok, thank you for your time, Mrs Devereux. We will be in touch.” Maggie got up from the table, handing the woman her card. Olivia’s lips curled into a smile. Mrs Devereux removed her eyes from the familiar face, reaching for the business card before her.
“If you think of anything, please do not hesitate to call.”
Maggie pulled Olivia up out of her seat.
Mrs Devereux pursed her lips as her eyes met hers again. “Thank you, Inspectors, and please call me Riley.” Olivia felt her heart flutter. Riley’s eyes smiled at her again.
“Liv?” Maggie pushed her shoulder to move.

They walked out of the house, Olivia quickly putting her sunglasses on.
“You alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost?” Maggie asked, ducking under the yellow tape again.
“Yeah, I think it was that bagel this morning.” Olivia placed her hand on her stomach. Reaching the car, Maggie leaned over the roof as Olivia found the key for the door.
“So you think he got himself in debt with the casino thing?”
“Well.” Olivia leaned over the roof, sighing. “Our Mr Devereux had been making his own money down in Vegas. I would say he pissed someone off.” She looked down, putting the key in the lock.
“Do you think the wife knows more than she’s letting on?”
Olivia stopped in her tracks. “Money doesn’t always pay the bills, Mag.” As Maggie climbed into the car, Olivia looked back at the house, the blonde hair in the window.

***

“So, what have you got so far?” The Captain asked as the Inspectors took a seat across from her desk.
“It seems that Mr Devereux was your run-of-the-mill white-collar Managing Director by day but had a terrible gambling addiction by night,” Maggie said, sitting back in her seat. Olivia leaned forward, uneasy with this case.
“He had shares in three or four of the large Casinos in Vegas that have been quietly struggling over the last few years. Looking at the figures, he had gambled away at least over thirty grand in the last nine months.” The Captain sat back in her chair.
“So, are we looking at a possible payback on a debt?”
“It’s looking very must possible.”
“Excuse me, Captain?” Raina, the trainee Inspector, tapped on the door.
“Come in, Raina.”
“I’ve done a background check on the deceased's wife, Riley Devereux. It turns out her father is Jack Munroe, founder of the Munroe Textiles Empire. She is part owner and has over twenty-five million net worth.”
“Talk about being born into money.” The Captain sighed. Olivia bowed her head, knowing this was way too close to home. “Find out as much as you can about this, Mr Devereux. If he was indeed murdered due to a debt he owned, by the sounds, his wife could be a prime target.”


Olivia walked in the front door, chucking her keys in the bowl on the side table.
“Hey, dad!” She yelled out. She heard movement in the kitchen. She placed her gun and badge on the wall unit and made her way towards the room at the back. She saw her aging dad dishing up dinner.
“Hey, Liv. Just in time.” She sat down in her chair, looking at the lasagne.
“Did you make this out of a box or from scratch?”
“Hey.” John turned around, taking his seat opposite her. “Where’s the faith in your old man Olivia? Come on?” Olivia smiled, and her dad smiled back. “Yeah, alright, a box; give me a break.” Olivia laughed, digging her fork in.
“It’s all good, dad.”
“How was work?” The retired cop asked his daughter.
“Ahh, it was alright.” He put his fork down momentarily and reached for the newspaper on the bench.
“Have you seen today’s newspaper?”
Olivia took another mouthful shaking her head no. John folded the paper and slid it towards her. Olivia looked up at the newspaper headline in front of her.
'FashionDesigners’ husband killed in Car bomb.’
She put her fork down and pushed the paper back towards her father.
“Liv, I may be getting old, but isn’t that Riley Munroe?” Olivia rubbed her hand over her face. John pointed to the picture of Riley. “The same Riley Munroe that you lived with at Westford?” Olivia scratched the back of her neck. “The same Riley Munroe that, as much as you hate to admit it, was inseparable with for six years?”
John looked at his daughter, slightly worried, and Olivia looked up at her dad.
“You know I can’t talk about work, dad,” John sat back in his chair.
“Liv, you’re too close to this. Even though I haven’t heard you mention Riley for, what...a decade? You can’t sit on this case.”
“Who said it was my case?” John looked at her, knowing better. “Dad, I’m already on a short string with the Cap.”
“Pass it over, Liv.”
Olivia got up from the table, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. “The Cap doesn’t need to know.”
“Olivia! Riley will cloud your judgment. Come on, eat your dinner.”
“I’m not hungry.” She went up the stairs to her room.



Rolling over again, the clock still said 1.36 am. Olivia sighed deeply.
“This is ridiculous.” She threw the covers back and went down to the kitchen. She grabbed the cocoa from the cupboard and started heating milk on the stove. It was times like this when she wanted a drink. She’d been sober for about eight months now. She’d been in the service for coming up eleven years. Alcohol had been her way of dealing. She was still haunted by that one night that she got raped, but in a way, it is what made her turn her life back around.
She looked around the darkroom momentarily until her eyes fell on an album on the bookshelf. Walking through the dark, she brought it back to the couch, tucking her legs under herself. Pushing her hair back behind her ear, she opened the album. She sighed deeply, seeing the memories she had almost forgotten.
Westford Girls Boarding school.
She smiled at the photo of herself, Ramsey, Bridget, and Riley, Riley Munroe. The album was full of pictures of the four girls and their housemistress, who had always been more like their older sister. The four of them had been together since Olivia was fourteen until she and Riley turned twenty. Her graduation photos with Riley held their own pages.
She remembered that day as the memories flashed through her mind. Both she and Riley were so pleased to be finished with High school. Apart from school, they no longer had to share a room with the others, do kitchen duty, share a bathroom or put up with each other. She remembered seeing Riley’s face reacting to the last realization. Though they were so different and never considered the other likable in a million years, they had been together for so long, and when it came down to it, they had been the best of friends and would have been lost without the shit they dished out to each other every day.
She set her eyes upon the young face of the Riley she remembered. Thinking of the older woman she’d seen sitting across from her earlier, it was hard to believe the years had gone by so fast. It was like seeing a ghost when their eyes met, and they realized they were there together again. So much time had passed, but in some ways, it felt like it never had.
Her dad was right, though. They had had no contact for over a decade; she was too close to this case. Closing the album, she decided to tell the Cap she needed to be pulled from this Case. Maggie would have to do it with someone else.