When Boone stopped at the closed door at the end of the long hallway, he turned to Peyton. His eyes, his voice, as always, were steady. “Ready?” he asked.
She inhaled quite possibly the longest and deepest breath of her life, letting go of her nerves, and gave a firm nod. “Ready.” Today wasn’t about her. Okay, well, maybe it was a little bit about her, but most of all, today was about Adam.
With no hesitation on Boone’s part, he opened the door and strode into the interrogation room. Peyton followed, spotting Detective Armstrong, the tough as nails detective they’d been talking to when they arrived at the station this morning, followed by one other person, whose eyes began to widen when he saw her.
Justin.
Peyton forced herself not to exhale, not to make any move, but mirrored the strength coming from Boone. She took a seat across from Justin, with Boone next to her, and the light-haired, broad-shouldered Detective Armstrong leaning against the wall behind them. She wasn’t sure what the detective told Justin to get him here, but by the color draining out of his face, it was clear he realized now that he’d been lied to. And the fact that he wasn’t jumping up to hug her like he normally would only proved to her that what they’d learned over the last couple days about Justin was correct.
Boone turned to her and gave her a quick nod.
She let her gaze fall to the one-way mirror to the left, and she knew they weren’t the only ones watching now. “I guess you’re surprised to see me,” she said to Justin, glancing his way again.
He shifted in his seat, fiddled with the cuff on his suit. “Obviously something’s going on here that I was not made aware of. Care to enlighten me?”
“Well, that’s actually my fault for keeping you in the dark.” She forced her voice not to shake, not wanting to show a hint of weakness. “I wanted to see your face when I showed you this.” She handed him the file folder, which contained the documents that Rhett had found in Vasiliev’s hotel room.
“What exactly am I looking at?” Justin’s hand trembled slightly when he opened the file. He read the first page, and any remainder of color in his face drained right out, his skin turning ashen.
“Yeah, I probably looked like that too when I first saw the papers.” Beneath the table, Boone took Peyton’s hand, holding on tight. “But it’s all there, isn’t it?” she continued, staring at this total stranger in front of her. “Everything about Adam and me. Our schedules. Every little thing about our lives. The plan for the accident. The plan for my murder, when it turned out I wasn’t in the car with Adam. The exchange of money with Vasiliev. Everything.” She paused, glancing down at the sketch of the body lying on the ground of the shop. “You hired a guy who knew what he was doing. So much so that he also planned his kills methodically, leaving nothing to chance.”
Justin snorted and pushed the file away. “I don’t know what you believe, Peyton,” he said, glaring at her. “But this is complete bullshit. I have no involvement in this. Why would I?”
“You know, at first, I defended you,” Peyton said, taking the file back and flipping through the pages. Each one that detailed the murder of Adam, then the murder at her shop, along with pictures that had made her throw up when she’d first seen them. “I couldn’t imagine that you would ever hurt Adam. It was just inconceivable that you would ever do that. But then we found this.” She reached the last paper, then handed him the document.
Justin examined the paper a moment, his lips pressing into a thin line.
She nodded, even if he wasn’t looking at her. “Apparently, you wanted to go into business with this guy, Mr. Lang”—she flicked the photograph across the table at him—“but you’d been keeping that fact on the down low. And that’s why, if the police ever looked into you, they wouldn’t have found that little bit of information out, because it wasn’t in the records.” She began handing over the rest of the photographs, one by one, to the man she didn’t even know anymore. “Sadly for you, the man you hired to kill me and Adam not only followed our every move, he also followed yours. Every meeting you had with Mr. Lang to talk shop is there, photographed, time stamped.” Maybe that was a security measure. To gather enough evidence on Justin that if he hadn’t paid Vasiliev, he’d use the evidence as blackmail against Justin. Peyton didn’t know. She also didn’t care about that. She only cared about having Justin by the balls. “And here’s what you don’t know. Yesterday, Detective Armstrong here…”
The detective raised his hand with a dark smile. “That’s me.”
She gave him a smile, then glanced back at Justin. “He questioned Mr. Lang, and wouldn’t you know that he told them you were seeking to partner with his company.” Turns out, Mr. Lang owns the second-largest commercial real estate company in Seattle, or so Boone told her after they investigated all this further. “But he said that he was concerned because he’d heard rumors that Adam didn’t want another partner. He wanted to keep the company as his grandfather had created it.” And that had been true. Justin had tried pushing another partner on Adam before to grow the company, but Adam had refused. He’d never been in it for the money. He’d kept the business surviving to honor his grandfather.
“And wouldn’t you know he was right,” Detective Armstrong interjected. “Mr. Lang said he thought the deal might be dead until you called and said you needed more time, but would come through.”
Peyton nodded and added, “You had hired Vasiliev to take Adam and me out so you would gain full ownership of the company. You thought I would be in the car with Adam the night of the accident, but I ended up taking a shift. I survived, I inherited half of the company. You were still stuck. And it turns out your life of luxury meant you didn’t have enough money to simply buy me out. So I still needed to be taken care of, didn’t I?”
Justin finally glanced up, cold eyes on her.
Feeling like she had a world of strength around her, she said, “Every payment that Vasiliev took from you was videotaped by him.” Boone slapped the USB sticks on the table, and she added, “It’s all there, Justin. You can’t run from this. You killed Adam and tried to kill me for control of the company, and we all know it.”
Justin inhaled and exhaled sharply, and then she saw it, the shift in his expression. There was no warmth, no affection. She wasn’t looking at the man whom Adam loved. She was looking at a man full of greed. This man before her was a complete stranger. “I want to talk with my lawyer,” he finally said.
Boone snorted. “All games until you’re trapped.” He rose and pushed his chair under the table, then glanced at Peyton. “I’ve had about as much as I can stomach. You?”
She stood and tucked her chair under the table, staring at the man she thought she knew wholly and completely. “On the flight here, I thought I’d have all these things to say to you when I saw you, but now”—she swallowed deeply—“now, I just pity you.”
Justin’s eyes slowly narrowed, dark rage burning in their depths.
“You’re going to spend the rest of your life in jail, for what?” she asked, feeling almost numb speaking to him now. “More money? You had nothing before Adam. He gave you half of the company, and this privileged life you’ve been living is all because he loved you.” She leaned in, pressing her hands against the cool metal table, and said, “You had your closest friend killed. And you know what the saddest part in all this is?” When Justin didn’t reply, she added, “If Adam were still here, he’d be the guy sitting behind you during court, supporting you no matter what you did.”
Justin just stared at her, not reacting.
And that coldness was the only thing she needed to see. Any affection she had for the old Justin she left right there in the interrogation room. She turned away and headed for the door then, realizing there was no good in any of this. Lives were ruined, forever changed, for reasons that would never make sense.
When she exited the room, she spotted two warm eyes, and felt the damn break open at the tears in those eyes. Adam’s mom had Adam’s eyes. Soft brown and
kind, though Amy’s held a sadness now that Peyton knew would never go away. “I’m sorry, Amy,” she managed to choke out, rushing forward. “I’m so sorry.”
Adam’s mother threw her arms around Peyton, bringing her against her slender form. “We can both be sorry.” She hugged Peyton tight for a while. When she finally leaned away, tears drenched her face. “I’m still having a hard time believing Justin did this to Adam. I don’t understand any of it.”
“Impossible to doubt him now, considering what we’ve just seen,” Dave, Adam’s father, said, taking Peyton into a hug next.
She squeezed him back a little harder. Dave felt like Adam. They had the same height, same build, even though Dave was a little softer around the middle. He even smelled like Adam. And she couldn’t help but think that Adam could rest now. Maybe her dreams would stop. This had never been the answer she’d wanted, but at least now they could all move forward with a sense that they’d done right by Adam.
When she broke away from the warmth of his hug, Dave turned to Boone. “You worked on this case?”
“Yes, sir,” Boone replied.
Dave offered his hand. “Then we owe you a great deal. Thank you for all your hard work to find these answers for our son.”
Boone returned the handshake before shoving his hand in his pocket. He gave Peyton a little smile before saying to Dave, “I’m not a one-man show. All of Stoney Creek PD solved this one.”
Peyton smiled in return, warmed by his kindness toward others, no matter the coldness this day brought.
“What will you do now?” Amy asked.
Peyton reached for Amy’s hands, holding them tight. “I’ll go back to Stoney Creek after we sort out what’s going to happen to the company.” The last thing she wanted was for Adam’s dream to crumble. But now with Justin going to jail, and her lack of experience with the company, the business was sure to fail.
“Actually, I’ve got an idea on that,” Dave said. “Remember George Logan?”
Peyton nodded. George was the CEO of an up and coming real estate company that showed interest in buying Adam’s shares after he passed away. Peyton hadn’t been ready to sell then and declined the offer.
“He called a month ago asking if you had changed your mind about selling,” Dave continued. Before Adam’s passing, Dave owned a finance company, but he’d retired after the funeral and sold it. Dave knew people in the business world that Peyton didn’t. And he’d wanted Adam’s dreams to live on too. “George’s company’s views are right in line with Adam’s. And he has promised me they will create a charity in Adam’s name.”
“Really?” Peyton asked, her heart squeezing in her chest.
Again, Dave nodded. “I’ll get everything written into a contract. We’ll make sure they do right by Adam. If you’re ready to sell now, of course.”
Amy smiled, squeezing Peyton’s hand. “You’ve done really well, handling all this for Adam, but it’s time to let go and move on.”
Peyton glanced at Boone.
He stayed silent, watching her carefully.
Just a little over a month ago, she felt entirely alone. The thought of blending her past and future had seemed so scary. Now she had no idea why she’d been so afraid. She turned back to Amy and Dave again. “If you’re good with the sale, then so am I.”
Dave gave a nod. “Once I have everything firmed up, I’ll reach out. I’m also looking into Justin’s contract. Apparently Adam included a morals clause. We’ll have to figure out the details, but I’m determined to make sure Justin walks away with nothing.”
Peyton took a deep breath. “Thank you, Dave.” She stared at these two people who were such a big part of her life for so long. “Whenever you can, come to Stoney Creek for a visit. You’ll really love it out there, Amy.”
Amy’s eyes widened and a tear fell down her cheek. “Oh, that would mean so much to us.”
It occurred to Peyton then that Amy hadn’t only lost a son, she’d lost Peyton too. For a split second, a sharp pain stabbed her chest. She felt shameful for shutting them out of her life. Until she remembered all she’d been through. No more sadness. No more grief. She would just do better moving forward. She glanced at Boone, then held out her hand. “Can we get out of here now?”
He smiled, took her hand, tugged her close, and kissed her forehead. “Yeah, sweetheart, let’s get this all behind us.”
She smiled, and was so happy to look up and see Amy and Dave smiling back.
Chapter 19
Earlier this morning, Boone had woken with Peyton tucked into his arms in the hotel bed. He hadn’t wanted to move, not wanting her to face the shit she had to face with Justin. Until he saw the determination in her eyes and knew she needed this closure. A very big part of him wanted her nowhere near the man who’d tried to have her killed. The other part of him forced himself to shut up about what he wanted and became determined to support her until the end.
Now, with Justin behind bars for the moment, Boone embraced the calmness as he sat next to Peyton at Kerry Park beneath a huge shade tree. The park seemed plucked out of a wilderness area and planted in the center of the city. His arm was around Peyton while she held her cell phone up FaceTiming Kinsley. For the last ten minutes, Peyton had filled his sister in on everything that unfolded today, including seeing Adam’s parents and deciding to sell the company.
When Peyton finally finished, Kinsley bit off, “I can’t fucking believe it.” She rubbed her arms like ants were crawling up them. “And you honestly think Justin came to town because he was checking to see if you were dead or not?”
Boone shrugged. “Why else would he have come? He must have wanted confirmation, then realized the right person hadn’t been killed.”
Peyton cringed. “I’m trying really hard not to think about that.”
“Sorry.” Boone tugged her closer, kissing the side of her head.
“Ew. I mean, I am so grossed out right now it’s not even funny.” Kinsley shook out her hands. “I slept with that snake.”
Boone snatched the phone from Peyton and frowned. “You what?”
“You’re sleeping with my friend,” Kinsley shot back, glaring at him. “So you can stop it with the angry eyes. I didn’t know he was a psychopath.”
Peyton laughed softly. “It’s fine,” she said, plucking the phone out of his hands. “You’re a grown woman and can do what—and whoever—you like, even if they turn out to be murderers.”
Boone turned his frown on Peyton now. “I highly disagree with that statement.” He took the phone away again and stared into Kinsley’s hard eyes. “Never sleep with anyone that I haven’t vetted first. Have I taught you nothing?”
Kinsley gave him an are-you-kidding-me look. “You will never vet a single person I sleep with, because that’s just gross.” She paused, her brow furrowing. “Wait. Have you vetted my ex-boyfriends?”
Boone wisely handed the phone back to Peyton.
“Boone,” Kinsley yelled.
“I’ll make sure he never does that again,” Peyton said to him seriously before looking at Kinsley again. “Promise.”
They could both try. He’d never feel bad about taking that extra step to protect them, especially after this.
Peyton’s phone suddenly beeped and a text message appeared on the phone from Remy.
Thinking of you today. Call me when you can.
“Remy just texted,” Peyton said. “Why is she not with you?”
Kinsley’s eyes saddened. “She’s pissed at me.”
“About Damon?” Boone guessed.
Kinsley nodded. “I told her the truth about thinking that there is something really wrong with him.”
“I take it she didn’t want to hear the truth,” Peyton said.
“Not particularly.”
Boone hesitated, wondering how to approach this subject. He figured with all they’d been through, honesty was the best way. “Asher is looking into this.”
Kinsley frowned. “Looking into what?”
“Damon.”
“Good,” his sister said with a firm nod.
Boone barked a laugh. “So, it’s fine to look into other people, just not when those people are you?”
“Exactly,” Kinsley said without a hint of guilt. “Besides, while I know she’s mad at me, she’ll also forgive me because she always does, but I can’t shake that there is something wrong with him.”
“You’re not alone,” Peyton said with a yawn.
Boone saw the dark circles under her eyes. “And that’s our cue to go get some lunch before heading back to the hotel to rest. We’ll see you at home tomorrow.” The ten o’clock flight in the morning was the only flight back unless they wanted to take the red-eye, which Boone didn’t.
Kinsley blew them a kiss. “Have a safe flight. Love you both.” She ended the call.
Peyton rose, grabbed his hand, and tugged him up. “I’m not that tired. Before we go for lunch, I’ve got things to show you.”
For the next hour, Peyton had led him around the city that she grew up in. Boone stayed quiet most of the time, listening to her talk. They’d stopped for lunch at a café on the corner of the road, while she told him all about her childhood—the good, the bad, and the ugly.
After lunch, she brought him to a red-bricked middle school, with children playing out on the playground. “And what’s this place?” he’d asked, loving the brightness in her eyes.
She turned to him with a smile, taking his hand in both of hers. “This is where I won the seventh-grade science fair.”
“You were a brainy, huh?”
“Don’t you know it.” She laughed.
Boone simply watched her as she told him about her great teachers, and about the terrible ones. He found himself relaxing more and more, forgetting the reasons that brought them there, and all the darkness and sadness that came from Peyton learning what Justin had done.
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