Twisted Innocence

by Terri Blackstock

  He looked at her. “Nothing. I’m only holding you so you can’t run to the police and tell them where I am.”

  “No, I mean what do you want . . . regarding Lily?”

  He looked down at Lily again. Holly waited, but before he could get a word out, his face crumpled and his eyes filled with tears. This time he couldn’t hold them back. “I don’t know,” he said just above a whisper. “But I don’t take fatherhood lightly.”

  “Why not? Everybody else does! Doesn’t everybody assume that one-night stands aren’t supposed to turn into lifelong commitments? If you wind up in prison, do you want your daughter to grow up knowing her daddy’s serving a life sentence for murder one?”

  “I didn’t do it,” he bit out.

  “Maybe not, but you can’t possibly think that what you’re doing now is making things better. Making you look innocent.”

  Lily’s little head rolled to the side, and his hand came up to support it. He kissed the top of her head. “No, you’re right. You probably did the right thing keeping me out of her life, especially since I’m in this mess.” His voice broke. “But I would have been a fantastic dad.”

  She didn’t know what to say. She looked away, sure he must be embarrassed by his tears. She tried to think. He didn’t seem like a cold-blooded killer, someone who could shoot a guy execution-style in the back of the head. But even so, where did that leave her?

  She had to get the gun away from him. She had to do what she could for herself and her child. Forcing herself to stay calm, she sat down next to him on the bench seat, within reach of the jacket pocket where he held her gun.

  He held Lily in front of him, smiling as the baby looked up at him.

  Now! In one quick move, Holly slipped her hand into his jacket and jerked the gun out.

  “No!” he shouted, startling the baby.

  Holly backed across the motor home, pointing the gun at the floor, unable and unwilling to aim it at him and her baby. Lily began to cry.

  “Holly, give the gun back,” he said as he brought Lily to his chest.

  “I can’t, Creed.” Her hands were shaking. “I have to protect my child.”

  “Then don’t aim a gun at her!”

  “I’m not! Put Lily down now!” He made no move to do as she said.

  The gun felt lighter than it should. She glanced down at it. It was her gun—the one he’d taken from her cab. She released the clip. It was empty.

  Her mouth fell open. “It’s not loaded?”

  Creed just let out a long, weary sigh.

  “Are you seriously telling me you’ve been holding me hostage all night long, and you didn’t even have a loaded gun?”

  “I took the bullets out. I didn’t want it to accidentally go off.”

  She dropped the gun on the couch. “Give me my baby!” she shouted.

  “No.”

  “Give her to me now!” She took Lily out of his arms, and the baby hushed. She backed away from him and sank into the front passenger seat, opened the glove compartment, and took out her phone and battery. She popped the battery back in, watched as it came to life and found a signal.

  “Holly, don’t call anyone. So help me . . .”

  “What?” she asked, turning back to him. “You’ll kill me? What will you do? Hit me over the head with the gun? Where are the bullets?”

  He sighed. “They’re in the console by the driver’s seat.”

  She opened it, found six bullets, and put them into her pocket. “Unbelievable.”

  “I’m not a killer. I took them out when we were still in the cab. I just needed the threat.”

  She stalked across the trailer to the infant seat. “I’m leaving.”

  “Holly, I need your help. Please. I can help you too. You and your family.”

  She couldn’t believe his gall. “What do you mean? With Lily?”

  “No. I mean I know things. Things that can help you find your family’s archenemy.”

  Her family’s archenemy? Her mind began to race. There was only one. She stared at Creed for a long moment.

  “I can help you find him. He was there when Loco was killed. I know people who can lead us to him.”

  Her heart stumbled. “Are we talking about . . . who I think we’re talking about?”

  “Yes,” he said. “I can help you find Leonard Miller.”

  CHAPTER 24

  Pushing through her exhaustion, Juliet dropped Zach and Abe off at church. As she drove home with Robbie, who still seemed slightly feverish, she drove past the office and saw that Cathy’s car was there. She pulled in next to one of the old gas pumps, got Robbie out, and went in.

  “What are you doing?” she asked Cathy, who sat behind Michael’s desk.

  “I wanted to use Michael’s computer to look up that guy Deuce. Why didn’t we get his last name?” Cathy asked.

  “His last name? We didn’t even get his first name. Deuce is probably a nickname.” Juliet laid Robbie in the Pack ’n Play she and Holly kept there. He didn’t protest, just curled up with his blankie.

  “We’re PIs,” Cathy said. “We can find him. I’ll do a search of the name Deuce in police records in Florida.” She hit Send, then waited.

  Juliet came around behind her to watch the screen. “Oh no,” she said as names began to scroll up.

  “Way more than I thought,” Cathy said. “Seems to be a popular street name.” There were at least a hundred people listed.

  “Can you scroll through their mug shots?”

  “I’ll have to click on each one, but yeah, I’ll do it. But if this guy doesn’t have a rap sheet, we’re barking up the wrong tree.” She clicked through a few who weren’t the guy, deleted them.

  “Okay, I have an idea,” Juliet said. “I’ll call Holly’s friends who were at the shower. She probably partied with them last night. They would know who he is.” She paced in the other room as she called two of them. She had clearly awakened them. Neither admitted Holly had been with them last night, and both denied knowing anyone named Deuce, but they were gleefully intrigued by Holly’s activities.

  When Juliet got off the phone, she went back to Cathy and dropped into a chair. “Why are we doing this? It’s a waste of time.”

  “Because we want to know who Holly is tangled up with.”

  “She’s a grown woman. She can see anyone she wants. We can’t stop her.”

  “But if we find out anything suspicious about him, at least we can tell her. Try to make her see reason. She’s letting him be around Lily.”

  Juliet let out a hard sigh. “Cathy, do you think he could be the father?”

  Cathy looked up at her, surprised. “No. I mean . . . what would make you think that?”

  “He came with her to get Lily. That’s kind of weird, don’t you think? I mean, she’s out all night with him, then introduces him to her child? Most women would want to pretend they’re free and unencumbered. Most guys would run from a new mom with a baby.”

  “Yeah, it’s weird, but—”

  “Don’t you think it’s at least possible? The way he looked at Lily. He didn’t just glance at her. He was very interested. He got this soft look on his face.”

  Cathy stopped clicking and stared at Juliet. “Well, someone is the father. I don’t know why she refuses to tell us who. I always thought it was because . . .”

  “Because she doesn’t know?” Juliet saw from Cathy’s eyes that she’d nailed it. “I don’t think that’s it. Holly was wild and reckless, but I don’t think she would go through men like that. It would make her feel worthless.”

  “She did feel worthless,” Cathy said. “Still does to some extent.”

  “But lately, she’s had better judgment. Maybe we’ve got this all wrong.”

  “Okay, then what’s going on? She stayed out all night with some guy we’ve never heard of.” Cathy sighed as she read through the profiles coming up on the screen. “The first twenty or so aren’t him. Still looking. I think I’ll recognize him.”

 
At least Lily was with her mom now. That was something. Juliet wished she hadn’t invited Holly’s old friends to the shower. Maybe they had been too much of a temptation. The whole single mom thing was overwhelming enough. “I should’ve helped her more,” Juliet mumbled.

  Cathy gaped at her. “Seriously? Juliet, in your tangled mind, how can this possibly be your fault?”

  “I’m just thinking the pressure was so great. Maybe she—”

  “Juliet!” Cathy turned away from the computer and faced her sister. “Listen to yourself. You’re grieving your husband, you’ve adopted his mistress’s son, you’ve had to start earning a living, you’re raising two boys alone, you’ve moved . . . Yes, Holly’s had some struggles, but you get the trophy for tough times. And it hasn’t sent you off the deep end.”

  “It’s not a competition. I’m just worried about her. Something’s not right.”

  When it was time for Juliet to pick up Zach and Abe from church, Cathy insisted on staying with Robbie.

  “You sure you want to?” Juliet asked. “If he wakes up, he might be fussy. Besides, you must be as tired as I am.”

  “It’s okay. I can handle fussy,” Cathy told her. “And yeah, I’m tired, but I had planned to be up all night anyway to get my mailings ready for all the news outlets. I want to mail them tomorrow, but it might have to be Tuesday.”

  Juliet got her purse. “Well, let me help you. After I pick up Abe and Zach, we’ll grab something to eat and then we’ll all come back here and stuff envelopes.”

  “You don’t have to do that. You need to nap.”

  “So do you, but we’re in this together. Set up that long folding table. The four of us can get it knocked out. Maybe Robbie will sleep the whole time.”

  Cathy agreed gratefully. As she waited for Juliet and the boys, she used Michael’s computer to search more rap sheets for Deuce. When Juliet and company arrived with fast food bags, Juliet joined her and Zach and Abe went to the back living area to eat and watch TV.

  Juliet ate her salad at the desk while Cathy clicked through more mug shots. They heard a car door outside, and Juliet got up and went to the window. “It’s Max and his dad.”

  Cathy looked up. “What are they doing here?”

  “Did you tell them we were stuffing packets? Maybe they came to help.”

  Cathy shook her head. “No, I didn’t tell them.” She went to the door to greet the men as they came in, then directed them away from the table in the front room and into the office.

  “Looking good in here,” Jack said when they’d all taken a seat. “I haven’t been here in months. We were driving by and saw your car. Thought we’d stop in. You’re working on Sunday?”

  “Not really,” Cathy said. “We just stopped by to take care of a few things.”

  “A few things about the pardon efforts?” Max asked.

  Cathy smiled at Juliet. “Yes, we’re getting press packets ready.”

  “I’ve gotten the police department involved,” Jack said. “I’ve gotten promises that they’re going to write letters too.”

  Max grinned. “Dad got to talk to each shift, and all our people are ready to storm the governor’s mailbox.”

  “And I know one of the governor’s aides,” Jack said. “He’s the son of one of my former partners on the force. His dad owes me a favor.”

  “Dad saved his life,” Max cut in.

  Jack ignored that and went on. “He says he’ll put a bug in the governor’s ear too.”

  Tears filled Cathy’s eyes. “Really? You guys, maybe we’re getting somewhere. Maybe he’ll consider it.”

  “Anyway,” Jack said, sitting up in his chair. “I’ve been hearing about how you and your sisters are trying to keep the business running. That’s a big help to Michael. Max said he’s been giving you a hand. I thought if he could do it, I could offer my services too.”

  “Your services?” Cathy asked. “You mean here, in the business?”

  “Yeah,” Jack said. “God knows I need something to do with my time. I hate retirement. Max suggested I help hold down the fort while Michael’s being held hostage by our flawed justice system . . .” He looked at the floor. “Leonard Miller’s walking free—a known murderer—and Michael gets locked up. Don’t get me started.” He rubbed his jaw. “But I can help with these cases, take the load off you gals. I don’t need pay. I have a decent pension. It’s the least I can do to help my son.”

  Juliet and Cathy looked at each other and smiled. “We sure do need help,” Cathy said. “We’re in over our heads. Juliet’s working full-time, and I’m trying to. Holly’s about to start putting in more hours, but we still have more business than we can handle.”

  “Then what do you say?”

  Juliet started to laugh. “I say . . . we’re thrilled. You’re a godsend.”

  “So what are you working on right now?” Max asked, glancing at the computer monitor, where the last mug shot Cathy had been looking at was still up.

  “Well, honestly, we’re not working on a paying case right now,” Cathy said. “We’ve been researching Holly’s new boyfriend.”

  Max frowned. “She has a new boyfriend?”

  “Apparently,” Juliet said. “She left me with the baby last night and lied about where she was going. Didn’t call or anything all night. Then she shows up this morning . . .” Juliet let her voice trail off. “Never mind, I shouldn’t be telling you that. I’m just a little miffed at her. We just want to see who this guy is.”

  Max came closer and leaned over the desk to see the monitor better. “What’s his name?”

  “Deuce. It’s all we got.”

  “You say she didn’t show up last night? Didn’t call?”

  “Right.”

  “Is that like her?”

  “Used to be,” Cathy said. “But not in the last year.”

  Cathy watched Max’s face as he read through the rap sheet on the screen. “It’s not him,” she said. “We were just going through guys named Deuce. We haven’t found him yet.”

  “So you saw the guy? Would you recognize him if you saw him again?”

  “Yes,” Cathy said.

  “Mind if I try something?”

  Cathy surrendered her chair. “Be my guest.”

  Cathy watched as Max typed in “Creed Kershaw.” Frowning at Juliet, she waited. Suddenly, a driver’s license picture came up.

  Juliet caught her breath. “That’s him! Max, how did you know?”

  Max rubbed his temples, frowning.

  “Max, who is this guy?” Cathy asked. “How did you know his name?”

  “Holly told me.”

  “She told you she was seeing someone?”

  “No,” he said. “She’s not seeing him. I think something’s wrong. Holly could be in a lot of trouble.”

  Cathy stared at him. “What are you talking about?”

  “I think you two need to sit down.”

  CHAPTER 25

  Why wouldn’t she tell us that?” Juliet cried after Max told her what he knew. “How could she run off after a murderer and not have someone watching her back?”

  “She was embarrassed. She didn’t want you to know about him being the father,” Max said.

  “Why would she tell you?” Cathy demanded.

  “Because she needed my help to find out things about him. I shouldn’t have given her anything. I knew she was going to go off and do this.”

  “So let me get this straight,” Cathy said. “Holly has been going to Southport to look for this guy, presumably so she can turn him in to the police and she won’t have to deal with him coming back into her life . . .”

  “Right. And it looks like she found him.”

  “So . . . what? Is he holding her hostage?”

  “Juliet, I’m no expert on Holly, but if she didn’t call last night and didn’t get her baby until this morning, and this guy was sticking to her side like glue, my guess is that she was under the gun. Literally.”

  Juliet felt light-headed. “H
e let her come get the baby, but he wouldn’t let her get more than a few feet away. His hand was in his pocket the whole time.”

  “He had a gun,” Cathy whispered. “Juliet, we’ve got to find her. He could kidnap Lily, or hurt them both. He could kill them! Max, can you put out an APB on her taxi? It can’t be that hard to find. She could be here or in Southport, or anywhere in Northern Florida.”

  “Can you track her phone?” he asked.

  Cathy hesitated. “I’ll go to her house and try her computer. She probably has her laptop with her if she was searching for him, but she does have a desktop computer at home. It might be set up to track her phone if she loses it.”

  “Last night her phone was going straight to voice mail,” Juliet said. “If he took the battery out, we can’t track it.”

  “I’ll go over there with you,” Max said.

  Cathy pulled up a database on the computer. “Max, do you have this guy’s address?”

  “Yes, but he’s on the lam. I gave Holly his address, his parents’, his sister’s, and the place where he worked. That’s all she had to start with.”

  “Do you think he really goes by Deuce?”

  “No. That was probably just for you guys. So you wouldn’t go looking him up under his real name.”

  Juliet picked up the desk phone and dialed her brother. “I’m calling Jay,” she said. “I’ll get him to keep the boys while we go look for Holly.”

  CHAPTER 26

  The Southport police located Holly’s taxi outside the gates of the RV park, but no one Juliet and Cathy questioned there had seen her. They followed her path to Creed’s parents’ house. To Cathy, it looked like a middle-class home with a well-manicured yard. The garage was closed and no cars sat in the driveway, and all the blinds were pulled.

  “If they’re home, do we tell them that Creed could be the father of Holly’s baby?” Juliet asked.

  “No, I don’t think so. We tell them we’re looking for our sister, and we think she’s with him.”

  Juliet let out a ragged breath and covered her face. “I’m sick that I thought the worst of Holly when she was in danger. Of course she wouldn’t have just run out on Lily without a good reason!”