Secrets Resurfaced

by Dana Mentink

  “Still not a motive to go after his aunt,” Liam said.

  Tom cleared his throat. “I think his motive isn’t just to claim his portion. He doesn’t get along with Angela, and...well, if she dies, he gets her share, too.”

  Dory considered this new angle. With Angela alive, he would get a nice settlement, his stepmother’s share. With Angela dead, he was loaded for the rest of his life. “Angela, he alleged you sent people to kill him.”

  Angela massaged her temple. “He’s unstable. He always has been, and he has this incredible way of deflecting blame. His therapists suggested he has narcissistic traits and, on top of that, he’s amazingly persuasive. He can make anyone believe it’s not his fault—teachers, his parents. Somehow he’s always the victim.”

  Chad cocked his chin at Dory. “Might explain why he wanted to meet up with you. If he thinks Angela hired you to track him down, he’s got reason to find out what you know or kill you outright to get you off his track.”

  A ripple of cold trickled down Dory’s spine as a realization dawned. “Or he doesn’t want me looking deeper into that boat accident now that he’s come back for his inheritance.” She saw Angela shift uneasily. “Is there something you want to say about that?”

  Angela blanched. “I...I didn’t even really let myself think it until you brought it up a moment ago.”

  “Think what?”

  Angela frowned.

  Tom nodded. “It’s okay, Angela. They’re good people. You can tell them.”

  The room went dead still.

  “Is it possible Blaze secretly invited his mother along on that fishing trip because he knew the boat was going to sink?”

  The horror of her statement made Chad catch his breath. “You’re saying Blaze somehow arranged for the accident to kill his mother?”

  Angela didn’t answer for a moment. “I don’t know how he would have, but the thought just occurred to me. There’s a stipulation in the trust that he gets access at an earlier age if he was to become orphaned. Maybe he wanted her dead so he could get the money early.”

  “And something went wrong. He decided to run until things died down?” Mitch put in.

  Angela shook her head. “But it sounds so far-fetched. Blaze loved Mary. I didn’t get along with my nephew, but I never questioned his love for her. I’m sure that was sincere. Could he actually have murdered his mother?”

  “Stepmother,” Tom corrected.

  Angela shook her head. “Mary was the only mother he remembered. He loved her. That theory can’t be right. He wouldn’t have murdered her, even to get access to his trust early.”

  “I’ve worked enough private-eye cases to know that people are capable of just about anything, especially where money is involved. ‘Follow the money’ is the core of any solid investigation,” Dory said.

  “We’ll find out what we can,” Mitch said. “But I’d urge you to tell Danny Patron about your suspicion.”

  Chad was silent, brows drawn together as Aunt Ginny walked Tom and Angela out.

  “What are you thinking?” Dory asked.

  “For all these years, I’ve wanted nothing more than to hear what she just said, that someone framed my father. Now both Blaze and Angela have hinted at it.” He shifted to ease the muscles in his shoulders before he turned his gaze on her. “Is there actually a chance that we can clear him?”

  Dory reached out and covered his hand with hers. “If there’s a way, I’ll help you find it, no matter what.”

  His gaze roamed her face. “We’ll work together, then.” Would she decline? Tell him she didn’t want him involved after what had happened between them? He couldn’t really blame her.

  Her voice was low and soft. “All right. We’ll work the case together.”

  The case...and they’d have to sort out what to do about Ivy. Together. The notion felt odd, like taking off a heavy winter coat to welcome spring. Odd...and frightening.

  Don’t get any ideas. Dory’s not looking for anything but a practical partnership and neither are you.

  He surveyed the expressions around the table and the nagging problem she’d momentarily buried bobbed up. “There’s just one thing, of course, that doesn’t fit with either Blaze’s or Angela’s story.”

  Mitch nodded. “Who was the shooter at the gorge?”

  An enemy of Blaze’s who’d followed him to town? Or someone already there who was determined to stop any questions about what had happened five years ago?

  TWELVE

  “Slow down.”

  Chad blinked and eased off the gas, noting Dory’s hand clutching the armrest. “Sorry. I was lost in thought.” That didn’t quite capture it. His brain was wrangling with the evidence that had been collected against his father, primarily by Dory’s father, Pete. But as the miles passed by, his thoughts kept drifting to Ivy. The more he thought of her, the tighter his stomach knotted.

  Ivy. His daughter. What was he going to say? He’d never had to work hard to make conversation with Mitch and Jane’s son, Charlie. As long as he could build block towers and chug a toy train around a track, there hadn’t been much need in the way of conversation. That suited Chad just fine. Now he worried his tongue might be permanently adhered to the roof of his mouth.

  “Do you want to...um...talk about it?”

  “No,” he said, not looking at her.

  “All right. But just so you know, I’m not going to tell her you’re her dad. Not yet.”

  Remnants of his earlier anger sparked to life. “Why not? It’s the truth. Why shouldn’t she know I’m her father?”

  “Because,” she said patiently. “She’s young and it would be too much of a shock to introduce her to a total stranger and say, ‘Hey, Ivy. This is your daddy.’”

  He couldn’t deny the logic in it. She knew these kinds of things because she’d been a mom all this time. “Oh, right.”

  “I will tell her, when the time is right, after a few visits.”

  He slowed to let a squirrel dart across the road. “How did you learn all that?”

  “Learn what?”

  “How to do all the parenting things?”

  She sighed. “On-the-job training. Long nights, lots of mistakes.”

  Mistakes. He went cold. What if he said something wrong? Upset her? Broke her trust like some horses he’d dealt with that’d had rotten owners? Kids had to be way more savvy about their caretakers than horses. She’d see he didn’t know what he was doing, imagine that he didn’t like her, didn’t want her. Be ashamed of his worn jeans and beat-up truck. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. What if he messed up the job of parenting like his mother had?

  He realized he was clutching the steering wheel in a death grip when she touched his shoulder.

  “Chad, it’s going to be okay. Ivy is a wonderful child.” She paused. “She’s got a lot of you in her.”

  Him? He goggled, gulped and squirmed on the seat. “That scares me. I was hoping she took after you.”

  Dory laughed then; a robust peal of joy that he wished he could hold on to and listen to again when he wasn’t so scared. “Well, she doesn’t talk much, so that’s definitely a Chad trait.”

  His daughter didn’t talk much. That made him breathe a little easier. Chad was comfortable with silence. Quieter than a fly on a feather duster, as Liam was fond of saying.

  They pulled up at a small house set back on a neatly tended square of grass. A pristine white fence enclosed the teeny yard.

  A Rental Property Coming Soon sign hung on a stake. He jerked a look at her. “When are you relocating?”

  “We’re moving to Arizona next month. My dad is retiring there, and the cost of living is cheaper.”

  He wasn’t sure how to react. He was upset to think of her taking Ivy away, but he hadn’t even clapped eyes on the girl. A week ago, he wouldn’t have cared where Dory lived.
Now...

  His thoughts were derailed when he recognized Dory’s mother, Sarah, standing in the yard. A small girl was pouring dirt into a clay pot. Long hair, slender, freckled. Ivy. Now he was sweating full-out.

  Dory let herself out of the truck while he experienced momentary paralysis. Before she shut the car door, she leaned in. “Ivy’s staying with my parents this week, but Mom brought her over so she could take care of her garden. She’s really into plants.”

  A plant lover, like Dory. The best present he ever gave her was a box stuffed full of seed packets he’d found on a shelf in the boathouse where he’d worked part-time during the school year. She’d absolutely squealed with delight, immediately making plans for a summer vegetable garden.

  “Chad?”

  It dawned on him that he was staring, so he forced himself out of the vehicle and into the yard. He thought he might shake Sarah’s hand, but she wrapped him in a hug instead. “It’s so good to see you.”

  Sarah would have been his mother-in-law if things hadn’t gone so terribly wrong. And Sarah was Ivy’s grandmother. She’d known all along, too, that he’d had a child, and she’d helped Dory keep the secret from him. He wanted to be angry about it but, for some reason, he wasn’t. Hadn’t been her secret to tell.

  She spoke in a whisper. “I’m sorry things are working out this way, but I’m glad you’re going to meet her. It’s what I’ve been praying about for quite a long time.”

  Dory had already swept Ivy up in a big hug, kissing her cheeks until she squealed. “I want you to meet someone. This is Mr. Jaggert.”

  Yep. His tongue had definitely become glued to the roof of his mouth. He barely remembered to snatch off his cowboy hat and extend his palm. “Chad. Uh, my name’s Chad.”

  Ivy gave him a smile that crinkled her nose the exact same way Dory’s did. Her hand was so small in his, so smooth and fragile, like a tiny baby bird he might hurt with a careless squeeze.

  “Pleased to meet you, sir,” Ivy said, confounding him with her grown-up manners.

  “Uh, yes. I am...er, pleased, too,” he mumbled.

  Her voice was itty-bitty, but her grin was bigger than life. Dory’s smile. His eyes. It took his breath away. The silence grew awkward. “What are...? I mean...what are you growing in your garden?”

  Dory put her down, and Ivy walked to her crooked row of pots. He shot a scared glance at Dory, who urged him to follow with a flutter of her hands. He did, and Ivy told him about her newly sprouted lettuce, tomato plants and the tiny new pumpkin seedling.

  Pumpkin. The word was like a conversational life jacket. “I live on a ranch, and my aunt Ginny grows pumpkins. Sometimes they get big around as barrels.” That widened Ivy’s inky eyes. It thrilled him to have interested her. He looked at Dory, who gave him a thumbs-up.

  They talked for a while about this and that. Mostly he listened and even helped hold a clay pot while she crammed in an apple seed she’d carefully extracted from a pocketed napkin.

  Sarah took in the soiled knees of her granddaughter’s jeans. “Okay, Ivy. Time to get you some clean clothes and pop over to the office to see if Grandpa Pete will be home for dinner.” She raised an eyebrow. “You are invited to join us for dinner, Chad.” There was a glimmer of steel in her expression. “It’s about time to get our family ducks in a row, and Pete is going to have to understand that, especially now.”

  Though Dory’s face went a shade paler, she nodded. “Yes. It’s past time, I’d say.”

  Sarah’s mouth crimped. “Are you two...back together?”

  Back together? He saw Dory’s cheeks turn rosebud pink. An image of them standing on that tiny front porch watching their daughter play teased his imagination. But no, they weren’t dreamy teenagers anymore. They were two people who’d betrayed each other. A boy and a girl who’d grown into a man and a woman. They weren’t a couple.

  He finally settled on something to say. “I’m helping out with an investigation. That’s all.”

  Dory looked away, as if he’d said something distasteful. But that was the truth, wasn’t it? He didn’t want anything deeper than a cooperative partnership and time to get to know his daughter. Did she want something more? Did he?

  But the moment had passed. Dory kissed Ivy and bundled her into her car seat in her mother’s vehicle.

  “I’ll come by the house soon, I promise.”

  Ivy wriggled in her car seat. “Will Mr. Chad come, too?”

  Dory didn’t look at him. “Uh, maybe. We’ll see.”

  Sarah drove off.

  The uncomfortable confusion enveloped him. Should he go to the house? Be content to revel in his first precious moments with his child? Or make an excuse and press for another more private invitation? Aunt Ginny constantly reminded them that giving thanks was the most important step in any knotty decision. God had made him a father and introduced him to his girl. He let out a deep breath. “Thank you for letting me meet her.”

  Dory nodded, eyes damp. “I’m sorry it took me so long.”

  I’m sorry I sent you away, he wanted to say. As he was getting up the courage, his phone rang. He answered.

  “Hey, man,” Liam said. “Just now checked my messages and I got one from Tom. He said Rocky borrowed his car.” He paused. “To go to Pete Winslow’s office and demand a look at the case file. I think he’s trying to figure out how to find Blaze.”

  Chad’s heart dropped to his boots. What was his father thinking? Coming here? Now? He had to intercept Rocky before World War III erupted. “When did he leave?”

  “Thirty minutes ago, I gather.”

  Chad hung up with a groan.

  Dory was staring at him. “What?”

  “My dad is on his way to talk to your dad about Blaze.”

  Dory gasped. “Oh, no.”

  He yanked the keys from his pocket. “Where’s his office?”

  Dory jogged behind him to the truck. “Twenty minutes from here. This isn’t going to go well.”

  “I know. I just hope we get to your father before my dad does.” Facing Pete Winslow, the man who thought of Chad and his father as one level above pond scum, wasn’t going to go well, either. His tension ratcheted up with each stoplight.

  As they rolled up, his breath hitched. Tom’s Suburban was parked in a slot outside a neatly painted office building with Winslow Investigations painted in gold lettering. The shouting was audible from the lot as they raced inside.

  Pete stood with hands steepled on his desktop. His face was fuller than Chad remembered, his gray hair thinner. The eyes were the same, though, blazing fury at Chad’s stone-faced father.

  “I’ve done my time, Pete. What’s it going to hurt to show me the files? You got what you wanted. I went to prison, didn’t I?”

  “You deserved to be there,” Pete stormed.

  “Stop, Dad,” Dory cried.

  Chad stepped to his father’s side.

  “I’m looking out for you, Dory. Rocky killed two people.”

  “No, he didn’t,” Dory snapped.

  “What are you talking about?”

  She squared off with him. “Blaze is alive. We need to look at your files again, to reexamine the case notes.”

  Pete’s gaze swiveled to Rocky. “I’m not showing him anything.”

  Chad’s blood burned. “So you’re still trying to deny my father justice?”

  “I delivered justice. He got what he deserved. Now you and your sorry excuse for a father can leave my office and stay out of our lives.”

  Chad jerked forward. Rocky gripped his shoulder.

  “He’s not going to do that,” Sarah answered from the doorway, startling them all.

  “Mom?” Dory gasped.

  Sarah stepped toward her husband, Ivy’s hand tucked in hers. She bent to talk to the child. “Would you go get Grandma a bottle of water from the frid
ge in the back room?”

  Ivy nodded and scooted off. Sarah straightened.

  “There will be no more of this. Whatever feud you two concocted years ago is done.” She glared at her husband. “I married you, Pete, and that should be enough to squash any rivalry. We aren’t twentysomethings anymore and I’m done with this whole business.”

  “I don’t want my daughter mixed up with the Jaggerts,” Pete said. “They’re—”

  “Stop, Dad.” Dory’s mouth pinched in a hard line. “These men are important to me. Rocky’s been punished, and you used me to help with that. But it’s done. I won’t be party to hurting them anymore.”

  Her voice cracked and Chad longed to reach out to her.

  “He’s...” Pete started to say, but a glance between his wife and Dory took his words away. Chad heard his teeth grind together.

  Ivy returned and handed her grandmother the bottle of water. Wide-eyed, she looked at the angry faces gathered around the desk.

  Dory seemed to grow a little taller as she spoke. “You and Rocky are going to cooperate because of Ivy. We’re family.”

  The room went dead quiet as Rocky looked hard at the child. Then his gaze drifted to Chad, who gave him a subtle nod. Realization dawned.

  “Ivy,” Dory said softly, “this is another Mr. Jaggert.He’s Chad’s father. I’d like you to get to know him.”

  Your other grandfather. It was another moment that left Chad speechless.

  “Why is everyone mad?” Ivy asked.

  The question cut right through Chad, but he couldn’t think of how to reassure her.

  Rocky blinked. He slid off his cap and twisted it between his hands. “I, uh... I’m sorry to be arguing here with your grandpa. It wasn’t polite to fuss in front of you. My apologies.” Solemnly he held out a hand to Ivy and she shook it.

  “It’s okay.” Ivy rubbed her nose. “Do you want to see the sunflowers Papa let me plant back at the house? They’re gonna tip toward the sun when they get bigger, Mama says.”

  Rocky blinked. “Um, well...” He shot a glance at Sarah, who gave him a firm nod. “Sure I would.”