by W L Knightly
“I need answers, Jo.” He followed her up the pathway and stopped as she put the key in the lock.
“Answers?” she repeated, glancing back at him. “About what? How my family is mixed up in this? I want answers too. Believe me.”
“I mean about them being your family in the first place.”
She turned the key, and then she opened the door and reached for his arm. “Come in, and we’ll talk about it.”
Jake pulled away but walked into her house. “Why didn’t you tell me your father was Senator fucking Young?”
“I didn’t realize it was so fucking important. I mean, you already knew it was a touchy subject. I have only recently met him face to face. Before it was only over the phone, and that’s only been for the past couple of years.”
“And I can see why. He’s one of the crookedest politicians in the state, if not the country. Your mother probably knows that.”
“And I can’t help who my father is. I just met him not long ago, and the only reason I didn’t make a big deal out of it is because I didn’t want people saying that’s the only way that I got my transfer and promotion to detective.”
He shook his head. “Well, I hate to break it to you, but the chances of that are close to a hundred percent.”
Her eyes widened in shock, and she spun around, meeting his eyes. “I beg your pardon. Now I really do regret that kiss. Do you act like this every time a woman reveals she likes you?”
She liked him? “You said it was stupid, remember? That you were stressed. Which is fine by me.” The last thing he needed now was for her to act like the kiss meant more than it did. “I don’t hold it against you.”
“Fine.” She stomped her foot and then threw her bag down on the couch. “I say we need to focus on the case, and you just forget that you ever heard who my father is.”
“Yeah, not likely.” She was delusional if she thought that they could just simply forget all about it. “Do you realize what this means? It means that your father is on the Hangman’s list.”
“And we have to warn him. I know. But we’re already trying to stop the Hangman, so this won’t be any different. At least now, we know who the victims could be. That’s more than we had earlier, and that’s all I care about; solving this case. Forget the past two hours happened.”
The feeling was mutual. Not only had she kissed him and instantly regretted it, even though it was what he’d been wishing for all along, but he felt like an idiot for thinking he was finally going to get something good in his life. And now he felt even worse. “You understand why he’s on the list, right? Because your brother brutally murdered that woman and her daughter. He cut them up like he was making chum out of their organs. The little girl was nearly bisected. The knife went all the way through her, Jo. So, thank your fucking stars you don’t know that animal.”
Her back stiffened. “Allegedly.”
The word came hard, like a slap in the face. “Excuse me?” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was she so blinded by her chance to have a family with a father and brother that she was willing to believe they were innocent?
“I’m just saying that I don’t know anything about that. I haven’t ever heard of it, and he’s never been convicted. The case was thrown out, and it’s easy to blame my dad, but until I see what’s happening, why should I believe any of it? My job is to be impartial until I find the truth.”
Jake took a deep, calming breath and then let the anger guide him anyway. “Because your father got him off. He paid everyone involved, and now Madden, also known as the Hangman, is out there killing everyone for their part in it. I’m sure your brother is his end game. It only makes sense.”
“I need to see a fucking case file.” She had already looked through every single file they had access to in the past few years.
“Well, good fucking luck with that. We know that someone’s already tried to make this case go away in more ways than one. It makes perfect sense when you think about it. Your father is great at hiding the evidence, paying off people to make it and other people disappear. And I see my word isn’t good enough for you. I’m standing here telling you what happened, but you don’t believe me. I’m the one who figured it out years ago.”
She rolled her eyes, and it made him want to walk away right then and there. “And you’re also the one who blocked it out. You’re not exactly reliable when it comes to your memory of the crime, and excuse me if I want to make sure you’re not delusional until I start to blame my family for this. I’ve never even known my brother’s name until you said it. My father kept me and my mom from the rest of his family because my mother was just a woman he had an affair with.”
“I guess he paid her off all of these years too. A little hush money to keep his second family out of the public eye. But it’s a stretch to believe he’d do it to keep his son out of prison and away from a death conviction. This is the same father who let the entire world know about his son since the day he was born, the apple of daddy’s eye.”
Her face contorted into a painful expression, and she walked over to the door. “Get the fuck out, Jake.”
He gave an incredulous laugh. “Gladly, sweetheart.”
But as he headed toward the door, she followed. “Why are you being so hateful to me? This isn’t you.” A stream of tears ran down her cheeks, and her nose was red from crying. Not even that could make her unattractive, and he hated himself for falling for her beauty.
“We don’t know each other, Jo. And this just proved it to me. I let myself get distracted with you. I let you charm me, and I had no idea you were just like him.” He felt so stupid for trusting in her.
“We’re getting to know each other, Jake. We’ve been through a lot and seen a lot together. I thought we were closer than this.”
“Yeah, me too. But apparently, not close enough.” He had to go. He couldn’t sit and listen to her play the victim when she had been the one to keep it from him. She’d only admitted it because it had come as a shock, and while he understood that, she could have told him sooner.
She wiped her stray tears. “I can’t believe you’re being this way.” Then she stood there with her arms around her middle, looking like she had just lost her best friend. All Jake could think about was how this was going to fuck the case up.
“I don’t believe you didn’t know,” he said. “And right now, you look like part of the fucking problem instead of the solution.” In the beginning, he had known better than to let his guard down for this woman. He’d done the same thing with her father and brother, and they had ended up getting the young man off without so much as a blemish on his record.
Jake walked to the door. He had to get away from her. He had to cool down before he fucked everything up. At this point, he knew that they couldn’t be together. Any hopes he had for the future were gone, and he should just put them out of his mind, no matter how much it hurt.
She stood there shocked, and as her eyes narrowed, he knew she hated him, which had to be for the best. But then she hurried over. “Don’t go, Jake. I know you’ve had a tough time, and so have I. We’ve had shock upon shock today. It’s late. You should stay.”
He took a deep breath. He didn’t want to fight with her. They had too much work to do. But that didn’t change that he had to get away. “I need my space. I’ll go home and make a list of the things I remember. We’re going to have to look for Madden’s first name. There has to be something in the records department that will ring a bell. I’ll look for the property listings from back then.”
“Knowing the case, do you think you’ll remember any of the other players in the trial? Aside from my father and brother?”
He gave her a hard look. “Yeah. I think I can.” He turned and stepped out onto the front stoop. “I’ll see you at the office.” With that, he hurried out to the car, and Jo slammed the door behind him.
Chapter 3
Michael Young
With so many demands as senator, it was hard to take any t
ime away with family, and since he’d put off leaving Spokane another day, his wife was pissed at him. “I can’t help it that duty calls, Brenda. If you don’t like where the job takes me, then perhaps you shouldn’t be there when I do come home!” He turned off his phone and tossed it to the wrinkled sheets of his hotel-room bed.
He had not told her the truth about why he was away and had used the same old lie, business. When the phone rang again, he prepared to tell her it was over, but then he looked at the ID and realized it was their son who was gracing him with his voice. “What do you want, Kyle?” His son never called if he didn’t need something, whether it was money or an alibi.
“Is that any way to greet your son? Your pride and joy? I actually wasn’t even going to ask for money this time—I thought tomorrow would be better—but I did have some news for you, Dad.”
“I can hardly wait to hear it.” He yawned as he walked to the mirror to remove his tie. He slipped the thing off and hung it on the mirror for the night.
“I’m in Spokane,” said Kyle.
His heart skipped a beat. “Why on earth are you in Spokane?”
“To see you. I thought since we were both here, we could hit the bar and have a drink. Or maybe do breakfast. Your assistant said you extended your stay.” He chuckled.
Michael wondered what he’d done to his assistant to get her to talk. His true whereabouts were supposed to be a secret. But before he could say another word, there came a knock at the door. Assuming it was his girlfriend, he walked over prepared to tell her to keep quiet, but when he threw the door open, Kyle waved at him from the other side with the phone still to his ear.
“Surprise, Daddy!” He gave a shit-eating grin that was more like Michael’s than he liked to admit. And while he most resembled his father in height, build, and coloration, he peered out at him with the cold, hard stare that he’d inherited from Michael’s father-in-law. The old bastard had always been a judgmental old prick, as sour as vinegar, and as bitter as arsenic, and Michael had to see the bastard every time he looked into his son’s eyes. But at least the boy looked well, healthy, and sober. For once.
Michael growled in anger and hung up the phone. “What are you doing here? And more importantly, why?”
Kyle breezed by him into the room. “A word to the wise. Don’t trust your secretary with sensitive information. It was way too easy to get the truth from her.”
“What did you do?” His son must have done something improper to get the woman to tell him anything. “Dammit, Kyle.”
He held his hands up like he was innocent. “I simply asked where you were. And when she slipped up and said Spokane, I asked why. Don’t be too hard on her. She tried to correct her little blunder, but that’s when I realized that Spokane must be important to you. Is this where your mistress lives?”
Michael hoped to be rid of him before his girl showed up. “I have no mistress. I’m here on business.”
Kyle gave a sly grin. “Visiting my sister is business?” He met his father’s eyes.
Michael’s blood turned cold. “What are you talking about?”
“Come on. Did you really think I was going to leave your secretary without getting all of the goods. Turns out, all I had to do was ask how her own daughter was, and she spilled her guts. I guess she knows my reputation for being a heartbreaker. Not that I’d go out with her daughter, although I guess I could fuck her, knock her up, and add a little beauty to that family. Lord knows the girl didn’t get any pretty from her mom. Which is why you don’t fuck her, right?”
He hated that his son had figured him out, but he knew he had too much on the boy to worry. “Stop your rambling. I’m not sure what she said to you, but if you’ve come here to cause problems, I’m going to have to order you to leave this city. You know it would be a shame to lose what’s left of your inheritance.”
“Always lording Grandfather’s money over my head. You should think of something original. Soon, I’ll be old enough, and it will all be mine anyway. But you can relax. I’m not here for you or that bastard child you call a daughter. I have personal business.”
“Drugs? You could get those back home.” He knew there had to be more to it. But the young man had chosen the worst time to show up in Spokane, where he was supposed to stay away from since their agreement after the trial. Michael had made him promise to stay away, and he’d agreed.
“I could get them in any other city in the state, but that’s not why I’m here either. I’ve followed Kendra. Her husband got some kind of promotion, and they relocated.”
Her husband was a lawyer, which made it even worse that his son was still fucking with her after all these years. “Let me guess. You’re here to stalk her? Why don’t you find a woman who is available and stop tormenting that girl? I’m surprised she hasn’t called the law on you herself.”
He laughed. “Kendra wouldn’t do that. She loves me. It’s just complicated. Her parents hated me, and while we were split up, she met someone else. Even though she wants to leave him, she’s used to the lifestyle he provides.”
“Which is more than you could give her. Because you’re a spoiled, rich-kid junkie who can’t hold down a job.”
“I would imagine it’s like Mom staying with you all of these years, even though you obviously loathe one another and she could do a hell of a lot better. As for the jobs, I wouldn’t have to demean myself with shit I don’t want to do if you’d unass the money from my trust.”
Michael wasn’t about to give him control of his own trust. His father hadn’t raised a fool. “Your grandfather left me in charge because he knew you’d squander it away. God knows you’ve cost me enough of my own.”
“And here we go. Demons from the past thrown into my face. I’ve told you a hundred times, take what you need to pay yourself back for what you paid to get me off.”
“I only did that because I know you really aren’t capable of what you did. I wanted to believe it was the drugs that had you so fucked up that you acted out.” He pegged him with a hard stare. He didn’t want to believe it, but deep inside, he knew it was more than the drugs. No one wanted to believe their children were monsters. He had done the best for him, but he was done now. He had to be or else he would go crazy trying to keep him out of trouble. He was ashamed to admit, even to himself, that he had given up on his only son.
“Of course, it was the drugs, but I cleaned up. I’ve been doing great, not that you’d notice.” Michael knew he still used, but he was better at controlling it and hiding it.
Kyle walked over and sat down on the couch, spreading himself out to take up more than half of the thing with both arms outstretched across the back. “This is a nice place you have here.” He looked around, and his chest puffed up as he took a deep breath. “So, do you still see her?”
“Who?” Michael was already growing tired of his questions.
“The woman you knocked up behind Mom’s back.”
“That’s not the way that happened. Your mother is the woman I was with behind her back, and to answer your question, no matter how uninformed it is, I haven’t for some time.” He cleared his throat and tried not to let the anger get the best of him. “If you’re hoping to gain something by using this information against me, know this: it will only hurt your mother for nothing. I’m here on business.”
“Have you seen her? The girl, I mean? Is she older or younger than me?”
“She’s older. And that’s all you need to know about her.” He hadn’t told his secretary any important details about Josephine, but she did know that he’d gotten her relocated to Spokane to take a detective job. “What else did she tell you?”
Kyle shrugged. “I didn’t press her too hard. She looked like she was going to cry, so I thought I’d ask you instead. You know, the funny thing about it is, I’ve always wanted a sister. You and Mom really did me an injustice when you made me an only child. Why was I the only one?”
Michael found that hard to believe. “Think of it this way,” he said
. “You never had to share.” He wasn’t going to tell him about Josephine. He had to keep her safe from the monster he’d brought into the world, and he hoped that she and him could someday be closer to make up for his son being such an epic failure.
“I suppose, but maybe I’d have been a different person.” He narrowed his eyes as he caught Michael looking around. “Are you waiting on someone? I mean, I know it’s late. You’re probably getting ready for bed, right? Or company?” He seemed to gauge his father’s expression a moment then grinned. “Is she hot?”
Michael blew out a breath and ignored him. “Where are you staying?”
“Down the hall. I’ve heard this is the place to be if you want to keep things on the down low. That’s always been my style, and now I know where I get it from.” He paused as if waiting on another reaction. “Come on, old man. Don’t get bent out of shape. I’m not going to tell Mom. She’s been banging her personal trainer for years. And it’s cool if we share stories about the women we bang. It won’t bother me.”
“You picked a terrible time to come back here, Kyle. I’d suggest you cut ties with the girl and go home. You don’t even know how bad it is. It’s way above your childish games.” He knew Kyle would only make things worse and be an easier victim if he stayed in town.
“Well, you don’t know how badly I want Kendra. I’ve loved her since we were kids. And you always said I should go after what I want in life.”
“Why is it you always take the advice I give you and apply it to the worst areas of your life?”
“She’s not the worst. We’ve been seeing each other for years. Her old man stays busy, and that’s when we get busy. You know how it is. Look at you. You’ve been cheating on my poor mother for ages now with the mother of your other child.”
He had always known his wife wasn’t faithful to him but never wanted her to know anything about his own indiscretions. “I didn’t cheat on your mother with her. I chose your mother over the other woman. That’s when you came along. I didn’t know I had a daughter for a long time, and I made right on my mistake.”