by Delores Fossen, Rachel Lee, Carol Ericson, Tyler Anne Snell, Rita Herron
Gemma sighed and took hold of her shoulders. “You can trust him. And you can trust Kellan, though I don’t expect you to just take my word for it.”
“I’m sorry I can’t take your word for it.” Caroline scrubbed her hand over her face. “I really am ready to unravel.”
“Yes, I can see that. Just be careful not to unravel in Jack’s arms.”
That sent Caroline’s gaze back to Gemma. “You can’t believe Jack would want to hurt me.”
“No, I don’t, but I think he could hurt you here.” She tapped her fingers on Caroline’s heart. “Hurt himself, too. Caring this much doesn’t always help. Just take things as slow as you can. Keep your mind open.” Gemma blinked back more tears, then smiled. “And for Pete’s sake, quit aiming your suspicious eyes at the man I love.”
Gemma’s smile didn’t last, though, and Caroline could see the concern return to her friend’s expression. Caroline figured she was about to get a lecture about staying safe and cooperating with Kellan and Jack, but Gemma stopped when Jack appeared in the office doorway.
“We have a visitor,” Jack said, and judging from his tone, it wasn’t someone he especially wanted to see.
Caroline moved closer to him so she could peer over his shoulder, and she saw the tall, lean man making his way toward them. Correction—not just a man, but a marshal.
Marshal Lee Zeller.
The very person that Jack hadn’t trusted enough to give them backup when the sedan was following them.
“There was no need for you to come,” Jack quickly told Zeller.
But Zeller shook his head. “I need to talk to you,” he said. “Because I think I might know who’s trying to kill Caroline.”
Chapter Six
Until Zeller had said that last sentence, Jack had been about to demand that the marshal get the heck out of there. But that stopped him.
Because I think I might know who’s trying to kill Caroline.
Jack put on hold his demand for Zeller to leave and gave the man his full attention. He definitely wanted to hear what Zeller had to say, but he’d take every one of the marshal’s words with a grain of salt. That was because underneath it all, Jack didn’t trust him.
“I’m listening,” Caroline prompted when Zeller didn’t add anything else. She sounded steady enough. Maybe even a little riled. But Jack knew her nerves were right there at the surface.
Zeller dragged in a heavy breath, put his hands on his hips and stared at Caroline. “I heard about the breach of security at the WITSEC house and about the attack. Are you okay?”
“Obviously not,” Jack answered for her. “Someone’s trying to kill her, and you just said you might know who that is. Spill it.”
When Zeller shifted his attention back to Jack, the man’s eyes were slightly narrowed. Probably because he didn’t like Jack’s prickly attitude. Tough. Jack wasn’t going to ease up until he had some answers.
“Well, it’s not me who wants her harmed, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Zeller spat out. “I’m here to help, and maybe then you’ll start to trust me again. I wear the same badge you do, remember?”
Zeller had likely said that to try to reassure Caroline that she was in safe hands, but considering what she’d overheard with Eric’s phone call, Jack figured it had the opposite effect.
“Lily Terrell,” Zeller tossed out there, and he let the name hang in the air.
Jack knew who she was, of course. He knew plenty of the names of people connected to his father’s investigation, and Lily was one of them. For that matter, so was Zeller. Zeller and his father had been bumping heads over the sex-trafficking case they had both been looking into around the same time his dad was murdered. Jack still had some niggling doubts that those confrontations with Zeller or the investigation itself had led to his father’s death, but what was missing was evidence of that.
“You think Lily Terrell is trying to kill me?” Caroline asked, her tone proving that she could sound just as grouchy as Jack.
Zeller sure didn’t jump to say yes. “I think someone in her organization could be responsible,” he answered, and Jack didn’t think it was his imagination that the man had chosen his words carefully.
It’d been a while since Jack had read anything about Lily, but he could still recall plenty of the details. Lily Terrell was a millionaire heiress from San Antonio. Her organization, New Beginnings, ran a counseling center and residential facility for the girls and women rescued from the sex-trafficking ring that Zeller and Jack’s father were investigating.
Jack glanced at Caroline. It was clear from her earlier question that she knew who Lily was. Of course, with her hacking skills, she had likely filled in whatever memory gaps she had.
Jack turned back to Zeller. “You have proof that Lily or someone she knows could be linked to what happened to Caroline?”
“No proof,” Zeller readily admitted, “but there’s something off at New Beginnings. I’ve been keeping tabs on it.”
Jack could see why Zeller would do that. The killer of Nicola Gunderson, one of the girls who’d been trafficked, had never been identified. With all the leads gone cold, Zeller might believe someone at the facility knew something about it.
“A woman has gone missing from New Beginnings,” Zeller went on. “I know that doesn’t mean she’s dead. She could have just left.” He shook his head, grumbling some profanity under his breath. “But what if Lily started that place because she was the one behind the sex-trafficking ring? She could have done that to make sure she could squash any incriminating info that could have come out about her.”
Jack wasn’t surprised, but he saw Caroline’s eyes widen. He’d actually played around with that idea. Call him a first-class cynic, but it made him suspicious when someone like Lily made a grand gesture out of the goodness of their heart. Within hours of the sex-trafficking ring being busted, Lily had come forward with her offer to help the girls.
“Tell me about the missing woman,” Jack said to Zeller.
Zeller didn’t hesitate. “Her name is Skylar Greer. She’d been a runaway when she was lured into sex trafficking. Skylar was eighteen when she was rescued. She went to New Beginnings because she had no other place to go, and she went missing last month.”
“Lily reported it?” Jack asked.
Now there was a pause. “No, she said Skylar just left. Like I said, I’ve been keeping tabs on the place, and I have someone inside I’ve been paying for info. A handyman named Bennie Darnell. Bennie claims he heard no talk of the girl wanting to go, but he did overhear Skylar talking about finding out who’d murdered Nicola Gunderson.”
Now, that was interesting how it’d circled back to his father and his investigation. Well, it was interesting if it was true.
“Skylar had apparently gotten to know Nicola in the short time she was in the sex-trafficking ring,” Zeller went on, “and Skylar wanted justice for her.” He shifted his attention to Caroline. “Lily ticks some boxes on the profiling scale when it comes to something like this.”
Zeller had obviously assumed that Caroline’s memory was clear when it came to her profiling skill set. It was, but Jack didn’t like that Zeller had seemed to know that. It made him wonder if Zeller had kept tabs on Caroline, as well.
“What boxes?” Caroline asked.
“For one thing, Lily has a record. Her folks paid plenty of money to make the trouble go away, but she had a fondness for drugs when she was a teenager. She wasted away a good chunk of her trust fund and then fell in with some girls who bilked money out of rich old men.”
Caroline lifted her shoulder. “A criminal past doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll grow up to run your own sex-trafficking ring.”
“No, but I have it on good word that Lily’s stayed in touch with her criminal friends.”
Still, that was a stretch, and Caroline’s huff let Jack know they felt th
e same way about the information Zeller was giving them. It could be pertinent. Could be. Or it could be a smoke screen.
“Lily hasn’t been arrested since she was a teenager,” Jack reminded Zeller. “Everything indicates that she’s not only turned her life around but that she also wants to help others.”
But Jack was just playing devil’s advocate on that, since Lily’s life turnaround could indeed be a facade. From what he’d read, Lily was getting lots of charitable donations from her rich friends for New Beginnings, although she’d pumped in some money of her own. That meant a place like that could merely be a sweet tax shelter for her and nothing more.
“Bennie thinks there’s something shady going on there,” Zeller continued, “and for now I agree with him. I’ll keep digging into Skylar’s disappearance. Will do the same for Lily, too, and I’ll let you know what I find out.”
Jack nodded. He wasn’t going to refuse information, but he would darn sure consider the source. A source who could want to get attention off himself and place it onto someone else like Lily.
Zeller snorted, his gaze sliding back and forth between them. “And you’re not buying anything I’m saying. You have a different angle on who could be responsible for the attack today?” That question snapped out like a bullwhip.
Jack debated how much he would say, but he knew it wouldn’t be long before Zeller heard about the man Kellan had in the interview room. Besides, if Jack was the one to tell Zeller, then he could watch his reaction.
“Kingston Morris showed up at Caroline’s WITSEC house shortly before the attack,” Jack explained.
Zeller shrugged. If he recognized Kingston’s name, he didn’t show any signs of it. Of course, he could be faking his reaction, but Jack hoped that it meant Zeller hadn’t extended his “keeping tabs” to background checks like the ones Jack and Teagan had made. If Zeller was clean, Jack didn’t mind the marshal knowing what they were up to, but the jury was still out on whether or not Zeller was dirty.
“Kingston was one of Eric’s admirers,” Jack went on a moment later.
Now Zeller’s eyes widened and he cursed. “How the hell did he get the address?”
“To be determined. Kellan is questioning him now.”
Zeller belted out more profanity. “The marshals should be doing that. A breach of security at a WITSEC house is our jurisdiction.”
“Yeah, but the attack happened on Kellan’s turf,” Jack quickly reminded him. “Three counts of attempted murder trumps a trespassing charge. Plus, Kingston didn’t try to break into the house. He just showed up on the security feed and then left.”
Of course, Kingston had perhaps left so he’d be in position to fire those shots at Caroline, Lucille and him, but that was only speculation. Maybe Kellan was getting something from Kingston that would qualify as proof so they could arrest the man.
Zeller checked his watch. “I have to leave and help with a prisoner transport,” he grumbled. “But I want to know if Kingston gives you anything.”
Jack just lifted an eyebrow and waited for Zeller to tell him why he had a need for that kind of information.
“Caroline’s attack could be linked to Nicola Gunderson’s murder.” Zeller ground out the words, clearly not pleased that he was having to explain himself. “Nicola’s killer was never caught, and I want to clear the case along with finding Skylar.”
Jack wasn’t ruling out that all of those events could be connected, but some of the pieces didn’t have obvious fits. Kingston, for one. There was nothing to prove he was involved in the sex trafficking. For that matter, Caroline wasn’t connected to it, either. Unless, of course, all of this went back to Eric. Maybe Eric had been working with the sex trafficker, and now the person or people behind that wanted to tie up loose ends. If someone thought Caroline was a loose end, that would be motive for the attack.
Zeller checked his watch again and moved as if to leave, but then he stopped and looked at Caroline. “Did you really get your memory back?”
Jack couldn’t tell if that was a good guess or if Zeller had heard that from Teagan.
“Some of it,” Caroline said.
As answers went, it was a darn good one. Evasive but also probing, because Jack was pretty sure Caroline was studying Zeller to gauge his reaction. However, Zeller didn’t give them a chance to study much of anything. He turned away, heading for the door.
“Good,” Zeller told her from over his shoulder. “I’ll keep you both posted if I find out anything more about Lily.”
Caroline and Jack stood there and watched as he left. “What do you think Zeller really wanted?” she asked.
Despite his bone-weary fatigue and frustration, Jack nearly smiled. He’d forgotten just how sharp Caroline could be and how she tended to think like a cop.
Or a criminal.
“I’m not sure,” Jack said, “but it felt like a fishing expedition with some mud throwing for good measure. Don’t worry. I don’t trust him.”
The slight sound she made seemed to be approval, but when she dodged his gaze, Jack stepped in front of her, forcing eye contact. Not very smart, considering the last time he’d done that they’d ended up kissing, but he wanted to see what was going on in the depths of her cool green eyes.
Plenty was going on.
Like him, she was tired and a little unsteady. Riled, too. She’d been through so much already and didn’t deserve another attempt to murder her. Worse, Jack couldn’t guarantee her that there wouldn’t be another attack. Which was why he had to take precautions: losing her again wasn’t an option.
He hadn’t meant for his gaze to stay locked with hers. Also hadn’t meant for the regret about the attack and then the heat to creep into his expression. Of course, with Caroline there was always heat, so it was hard not to have it playing into things. Impossible for her not to pick up on it, either.
“I can’t kiss you again,” she insisted. Then she huffed. “Well, I could, but I’m asking you to back off. I need room to breathe. Time to think.”
Jack immediately stepped back, giving her that space and nearly smiling again when it seemed as if she was disappointed that another kiss hadn’t happened. But she was right. They definitely needed some thinking time on this. Better yet, this called for some concentration coupled with plenty of detective work.
He scrubbed his hand over his face, dragged in a breath and started laying out some things. “Kellan should have enough probable cause on Kingston to get a look at his financials. That’s a start. Also, I can arrange to have Kingston’s friends interviewed just to see how deep his obsession with Eric went.”
Caroline nodded. “I can help. Not by hacking into Kingston’s bank records,” she quickly added when he scowled at her. “But I can call the various research assistants that Gemma and I worked with and see if they remember anyone other than Kingston coming in with Eric. It’s possible Kingston had some help if he put this attack together.”
True, and searching for that might help Caroline keep her mind off the flashbacks and the panic attacks.
“What about Zeller?” she asked. “Is there any chance you can get into his financials?”
“Slim to none, with what I have on him. Which is nothing.” Jack paused. “But he’s not the only one who can talk to Lily and others at New Beginnings. Maybe Lily can shed some light on why Zeller has her in his sights for a whole boatload of felonies, including coming after you.”
“I’d like to hear what she has to say. And no, I don’t recall Eric mentioning anything about the sex trafficking, but he did have contact with a lot of bad people. Stupid, gullible people that he could charm into doing what he wanted,” she added. “Look at what Kingston was willing to do for him. Maybe there are others who overlap with Lily, Eric and Kingston.”
It was one of those angles that had to be checked out, but it would also be a big time suck. Jack was worried that time wasn’
t on Caroline’s and his side right now. The person who’d attacked her would almost certainly come after her again.
He was about to suggest they go to the observation room to watch the rest of Kingston’s interview, but Jack spotted his brother Eli coming in through the front door. Jack also saw Caroline stiffen, and he didn’t have to guess why. She didn’t have faith in his Texas Ranger brother because in her mind, Eli could also be connected to that phone call Eric had made a year ago.
Eli made a beeline toward them, glancing first at Jack before his attention lingered a moment on Caroline. Eli lifted an eyebrow. “You got your memory back, but you don’t know who killed our father.”
It wasn’t a question. Nor was it especially sympathetic. But then, Eli wasn’t known for his soft touch. His recent engagement had given him a sunnier outlook, but it didn’t appear that he was going to spread any of that sunshine Caroline’s way.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I wish I did know who killed him, because I would tell you. I also wish that I could trust you, but I don’t.”
Eli kept his attention on Caroline, studying her, before he shrugged. “Understood. But if you remember anything about me, you know I don’t do things half-assed. If I’d actually helped Eric, I wouldn’t have let a hostage overhear a conversation I’d had with him. A conversation that could have come back to bite me. That’s just an FYI,” he added in a growl before he turned back to Jack.
What Eli had said was true. He wasn’t the sort to leave stones unturned or loose threads untied. Jack just wished his brother had tried to give Caroline a little more reassurance. She was already spooked, and none of them wanted her slipping into a panic mode.
But Caroline didn’t panic. She simply nodded in response to Eli. So maybe that was progress. Soon, though, she’d need to trust all the Slater lawmen because they were her best shot at staying alive.