“I know. I love you too.”
I bend my face to hers and kiss her long and slow. I won’t stop hunting Mathis until he’s behind bars or dead. I need her and my family safe, and I want all of us to be able to live our lives without the constant threat or worry of him showing up. I need my children to grow up feeling safe and protected.
I pull back. “I need to go. Wait up for me?”
“Of course. I don’t work tomorrow, so I’ll wait as long as I have to.”
I kiss her again. “Thank you. Love you. I’ll see you soon.”
As I drive over to Judson’s house, I call Riley and check if there are any new sightings of Mathis, but there are none. Mathis does this more than I’d like to admit. He simply drops off the radar for weeks or months at a time, then he shows up somewhere completely different. It’s unnerving. It’s eight o’clock when I arrive at Judson’s. I don’t see his truck, but the lights are on. I knock on the door and wait about a minute before the door swings open.
“Laney?”
“What are you doing here?” She states almost angrily. She’s on guard and defensive. She pokes her head out the door and looks around before leaning back. “Is this official or friendly?”
“As we’ve discussed before, you can’t stop official police business, no matter how badly you want to, but this is friendly.”
She sighs. “Fine.” She opens the door wider and gestures me forward.
Judson comes out from a back room shirtless and towel drying his hair. “Who was at … oh, hey, Ryan.” He looks around a moment and then grabs a shirt from a folded stack on the kitchen island and puts it on.
“You got a minute?”
“Yeah, sure. Is this about the case?” He points to the sofa. “Have a seat, you want a drink?”
“Water is fine.” Judson disappears through the back door. I look at my sister as she gathers the clothes on the island. “What are you doing here?” I ask her.
She glares at me. “I’m being a friend, not that it’s any of your business.”
I hold my hands up in surrender. “Hey, I’m just making small talk. So you’re doing the laundry?”
“No, he did his laundry and folded it, I’m just getting it out of the way. You can stop judging me.”
“I’m not judging you, Lane. I just want you to be careful.”
She’s about to say something when Judson comes back from outside, “I keep these in the workshop fridge.” He hands me a cold bottle of water.
“Thanks.”
I take the water from him and he sits in the chair across from the sofa. For a few moments we’re sitting quietly until Laney speaks.
“So why did you come by?”
I clear my throat. “Well, I’d actually like to speak with Judson alone.”
Laney starts to say something, but Judson stops her. “Laney, you have to be at work in an hour anyway. I’m sure you need to get ready.”
She huffs. Judson stands and pulls her off to the side. I can hear them, but I keep my eyes on my water bottle. “Your brother isn’t going to hurt me. If he was here to arrest me he would have already.”
“Are you going to tell him?” she asks softly.
“I will.” I see a movement out of the corner of my eye, Judson places his hand on my sister’s shoulder and hunches down so they are eye to eye. “I promised you and I mean that. I’m trying here. Don’t push.”
She nods. “I know you are. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I know you care.” He smiles at her.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. Please don’t come to the bar.” She wraps her arms around him, and surprisingly to me, Judson lets her hug him.
“I won’t. I’ll be busy tomorrow, but I’ll text you when I’m done.”
She looks up at him and smiles. “Okay. I’ll miss you.”
He chuckles. “I’ll kind of miss my little pest.”
She swats at him, and for the second time, I see this gleam in Judson’s eye when he looks at my sister. Maybe they will make something of this after all. For my sister’s sake, I hope they do. Laney leaves with a quick kiss to both of our cheeks. Judson and I settle back into the living room.
“So,” I say after a few awkward moments. “You and my sister?”
He nods. “I promised her I’d try to be more for her.”
“Is that what you really want? I don’t want to see her get hurt.”
Judson wipes his hand over his face and sighs. “I do. At first I resisted my feelings, because I don’t feel I deserve someone like her. I guess I still don’t, but the difference now is that I want to be a better man and feel like she can help me be that. In the years that I’ve been back up here she’s been the one constant in my life, she’s been there for me even when I didn’t want her to be. I know my parents and sisters would have been, but it’s different with them. They didn’t want to push me away and I get that, but Laney doesn’t let me, she pushes back. I guess I’ve needed that.”
“So you’re doing this just for her?”
“No, I’m doing this for myself. This whole thing has made me realize what a sad shell of a person I’ve been. I don’t want to waste my life away. I think my wife and children would be sorely disappointed in what I’ve become. I need this change. I’m glad Laney is willing to help me and not pity me.”
“Just don’t hurt her. I know she tries to appear tough, but she’s been through a pretty horrible relationship and bad breakup. She’s lost a lot herself.”
“She’s told me her story. I’ll do my best not to hurt her, Ryan, but I don’t know what the future holds for us. I’m starting to see a future for myself for the first time in years. This is all new for me.”
“I understand.” We sit quietly for a few more minutes and I know it’s time for me to get down to the real reason for my visit. “Jud, I need you to tell me more about your partner, Grant McMann.”
He snorts. “I figured you were here for more than a friendly visit.”
“I am, but I have to do my job too. I want to find out answers to this murder, but also answers about the fire.”
“Please, just leave it alone. My family deserves to rest in peace. I deserve to rest in peace.”
“Then let me investigate.”
“What does the fire have to do with Ralph being found here?” Judson runs his hand over his face and through his recently cut hair. He seems agitated and nervous.
“Maybe nothing, but I’m not one for leaving a stone unturned.” I shift in my seat and watch him for a moment before I continue. “I’ve already been through the case files for the fire. I know it was said to be electrical, but it makes no sense that a house less than three-years-old and that had passed inspections would have electrical problems.”
“It wasn’t just electrical.”
This was news to me. “What do you mean?”
“One of the firemen told me that it burned so quickly because of oil from my wife’s lamps. She loved those old fashion oil lamps. She had one in every room in case of a power outage. There were two right beside the outlet that caught fire. The plug had one of those wax burners plugged into it. It over heated and blew the plug. Then, I guess once the glass of the lamp got so hot, it exploded and the fire really broke out everywhere. It happened so quickly that they weren’t able to get it put out.”
“Why isn’t any of that in the official report?”
“I have no idea.”
“Why did the fire burn so long before responders came?”
“That I don’t know. I mean, we lived back off the main road, but our house was visible to several neighbors, and my neighbor Mark Vaughn called in the fire. He went over to see if he could help. The fire was too hot and consuming by the time he got there. He was able to get Shannon out, but she was barely hanging on by that point. Something had hit her and knocked her out. He didn’t,” he pauses and leans back in his chair. “He didn’t know the kids were inside.” He breathes in deeply and closes his eyes. “I haven’t talked about any o
f this in so long. It’s just as hard now as it was then.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine.”
He looks up at me. “Can’t you?” I look at him strangely and he continues. “I mean, Dylan and Shayla were kidnapped. For a while, didn’t you worry they were dead?”
“Yes, but I didn’t lose them. I don’t know how I would have reacted if I had.” I change the subject. Even after almost two years it’s hard to think about and my family was rescued. I know this has to be unbearable for him. “Judson, tell me about Grant.”
He sighs and shakes his head. “What makes you think Grant is involved?”
“I’m not sure that he’s involved, but yesterday I spoke to him at Lyon’s. He didn’t seem to know anything about Ralph or Colby Jack, but it was the way he looked at Richard Lyon that made me think there was something more going on.”
Judson groans and stands. He walks over to the wall where a picture of the house, before it was restored, hangs; he swings it forward revealing a wall safe. He reaches inside, pulls out a few papers, and turns back to me.
“I don’t know what’s going on with Grant, but I have some things to tell you, things I promised your sister I would. I don’t think Grant is connected to Ralph’s murder, at least I hope he’s not, but maybe this information will help you in some way.”
Judson walks back over and I can see that one of the items I thought was a paper is actually a picture. He sits on the opposite end of the sofa and hands me everything. I glance at the document on top.
“Coastal Genetics Company?” I look at Judson.
He runs his hand through his hair and rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah, apparently when the twins were born, Shannon had DNA testing done to determine paternity. There was some mix up in the office and it was never mailed out. They found it in a move and had it hand delivered to me. I don’t know if the infertility clinic messed up on the procedure or if she cheated on me.”
“What does this have to do with Grant?” He hands me the picture of Grant with two little kids. “Your kids?”
“Or Grant’s. He says no, but that picture … the more I look at it, the more I’m convinced they were his. The way he treated them, the way he acted with Shannon, and there are too many things that don’t add up or confuse me. I confronted him when I got the letter; he denied everything,” he finishes with a shrug
“But you’re still not convinced?”
“Nope.”
“Okay, but this doesn’t explain why Grant would have a reaction to seeing Lyon.”
“Yeah, that. Well, Clay, he’s a partner in the business and I have suspected Grant of having a gambling problem. We talked to him about it not long after the accident. He had bought a new car only weeks prior to that and suddenly, it was gone. He said he changed his mind and sold it, but he didn’t replace it with a new one. He borrowed his dad’s truck for the longest time. There were other things, like valuables he had in his office, a signature baseball, and other collectors’ memorabilia, it all started to disappear. He claimed to be tired of it, sold it or he’d say he took it home. No matter what Clay and I tried, he wouldn’t confess to having a problem.”
“And how’s that connected to Lyon?” I already know he’s a suspected loan shark, but legally there’s no proof of that.
“Lyon’s bars, especially Lyon’s, are known for being underground gambling joints. I’ve followed Grant going into the bar several times and leaving out the back door, only to go back in through a side entrance, after giving a password. I’ve challenged him on that too, but he says nothing or he denies it completely.”
“Do you think that his debt has anything to do with the fire?”
Judson looks taken aback. “I never have before. You think the fire might have been arson? That they did it because of a debt he owed?”
“Things like that happen. I’m not saying it did, after what you told me today, the fire seems more legit, but I don’t want to rule anything out.”
Judson starts to pace. “If my family died because of him, I swear you’ll have to lock me up, because I’ll kill him.”
“Don’t do anything rash, we don’t know if he did, and if he did, I’ll find a way to put him behind bars for the rest of his life. His suffering would be far worse a punishment than death.”
“Is that what you tell yourself about that Mathis guy?” I startle a little in surprise. “Laney told me all about what happened. You can’t tell me that you don’t want to kill him.”
“I did. I do, but if he is rotting in jail that’ll be enough for me.” I try to be convincing, but I don’t think I am. “Why don’t we go question Grant, see what he has to say. We’ll wait until he’s at his house, we don’t want to do this anywhere that things could be overheard.”
“Yeah, okay. I can rearrange the projects I was planning on working on tomorrow. I want to hear what he has to say myself.”
“Sounds good. What time is he normally done with work?”
“Five, but why don’t we show up in the morning before he leaves, that way we can get this over with. It’ll eat me alive until then.”
“We’ll leave here at seven.”
“Seven is good.” He huffs. “Man, I need a drink.”
I clap his shoulder. “You’ll get through this. Do something else to clear your head.”
“Can I go back on the trail?”
“Yeah, we’ve gotten all we need. You can toss all the yellow tape. Get back to your daily life.”
“I will as soon as you catch who’s done this. I don’t exactly feel safe here anymore.”
“I understand. Get some security cameras. I have them all over my place.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that. I think I’m going to call Laney if we’re done.”
I smile at him. I guess talking to my sister beats drinking himself into a coma. As I shut the front door, I hear him say, ‘Laney, I need you.’ I have a feeling those two are going to be just fine.
Chapter Twelve
Judson
Ryan is watching me. I can feel his eyes on me, but I just need to process everything that he said. I’m having information overload right now and the desire to have a drink is so overwhelming that I actually feel sick. I know I don’t consider myself an alcoholic, but maybe I’m on my way to becoming one. The only thing stopping me from going somewhere to get a drink is the promise I made to Laney. I need her, I need her more than I ever thought I’d need anyone, and it’s not just a distraction or a replacement. She’s come to mean more to me than I can describe. She’s been here for me, picked me up when I was too drunk to help myself, she’s been everything I didn’t know I needed for years now. I still can’t believe that I let my pain and sorrow blind me from someone truly amazing. Before Ryan is even out of the door, I call her.
“Hello?”
“Laney, I need you.”
“Oh, Jud. What happened? Is Ryan still there? He’s not arresting you is he?”
“No, nothing like that. He just left. Do you think you can leave early?”
“I can’t. I’m the only one working the bar right now. Can you give me an hour?”
I look up at the clock. She’s barely been gone an hour. It’s not fair for me to ask her to leave. “No, don’t leave. I’m sorry. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’ll be fine. I’ll get started on some orders I have. I’m going to Brantsville in the morning anyway.”
“If you’re sure, I can work something out.”
“No, Laney, it’s all right. I’ll keep myself busy,” I say, hoping it’s enough to keep me from drinking.
“I’ll call you on my break. Okay?”
“Sure. Thanks.”
“I’m here for you, always.”
I smile. “I know. Thank you.”
We hang up, I change my clothes and head out to the trail. It’s dark, but I know the area so well that I’m not concerned at all. I grab my head-mounting flashlight and hurry outside. The moon is so bright that once my ey
es adjust to the darkness, I don’t even need my flashlight. I haven’t ran in a few days, it feels good to stretch my legs and work up a sweat. As I’m running, I try to process everything. I don’t know what to think about Grant’s possible involvement in the deaths of my family. I can’t believe he’d have anything to do with it, but if he was in deep enough with Lyon, I can definitely see Lyon punishing him in some way. Why with my family? I don’t know. Well, unless Lyon was in on the fact that my wife had an affair with Grant and had his children, but that seems farfetched. I’ve been in denial about that, but if any of this craziness is true, then it would give Lyon cause to come after them.
After my run, I shower and try to relax, but it’s no use. I can’t sleep, so instead of tossing and turning uselessly, I work all night. I get two of my four orders completed and by the time I’m ready to start on the third, Ryan is poking his head in my workshop.
“You ready?”
I look at myself and laugh. I’m covered in sawdust, dirt, and grime. “Can you give me ten minutes?”
“Sure.”
“Come on in, make yourself at home. There’s drinks and food if you want.”
“Thanks, I’m okay. Shayla fixed breakfast for me.”
I smile. I miss that. Not really someone cooking for me, although that’s nice, but just having a wife who cares enough to do it. Shannon always made family breakfasts. I give him a nod and head towards the shower. It takes me a little more than ten minutes, but we will still make it to Grant’s before he leaves.
Grant lives in Brantsville, not far from my old house. Although, instead of living back off the road in the woods, Grant lives in one of the larger neighborhoods, in a small but nice two bedroom ranch style home. The drive to Grant’s is pretty quiet; mostly Ryan and I talk about sports, life, and business. We avoid anything about the case.
Once Ryan and I arrive at Grant’s home, he places the car in park, but instead of shutting off the engine, he turns towards me. “I want this as casual as possible, but there’s a good chance he’ll either deny everything or lash out.”
Penance (Oak Grove Suspense Book 2) Page 13