Carolina Mercy (A Southern Breeze Series Book 2)

by Regina Rudd Merrick

  “There’s also the signature card on the account. There is my name and signature and Sam’s name and signature. When I signed it, Tom’s name was not on the account.” Lucy made sure the gentlemen saw the addition of his name.

  “Tom, were you aware that you were on this account?” Mayor Hynes focused on Tom.

  “No, sir, I was not. The first time I knew of it was when I went to the bank and asked to see the signature card.” He looked at Sam. “Can you shed light on why the teller told the manager that you had come back alone and added my name, saying I would come by to sign it?”

  “Without your signature, how did they allow your card to be used?” Judge Simpson leaned forward in his chair.

  “It was all done electronically. A security check found that their employee portal had been entered outside of their computer network. Only a person with excellent computer skills would be able to do this.”

  The mayor and judge were silent. “Watson, what do you have to say?”

  Sam cleared his throat. “I think this is all a huge misunderstanding. I will definitely look into this matter, and hopefully we can rectify the situation.”

  Tom shook his head. “I think it’s a little late for that. Lucy, would you share the other information we were able to retrieve?”

  Heart in her throat, she pulled out the images from the security cameras at the ATM machines. She laid them out, one by one. In each photo, was a man, wearing a Georgetown County Sheriff’s Department cap. It was difficult to see the face, until the last one. He had been distracted, or maybe a little over-confident, and looked to the side, allowing the camera to get a perfect profile of his face.

  Sam stood up. “This is insane. Those could have been taken at any time.”

  Lucy spoke up. “No. No, they couldn’t.” She pointed to the bottom margin of the photos. “Look at the timestamp on the bottom of the image. Look at the time of the withdrawals.” Lucy shook her head. “How did you think you could get away with this?”

  “You’re smarter than I thought.” Sam fisted his hands and looked at her with what looked like hatred in his eyes.

  “Yes, she is.” Tom stood up and pulled out his handcuffs. “She’s the one that spotted the details.” He walked up to Sam. “Sam Watson, I’m placing you under arrest.”

  Before he got the words out, Sam threw a punch that landed Tom on the conference table. At that moment the door opened, and the sheriff and a state trooper entered the room and subdued him. Tom slid off the table, putting a hand to his right jaw. “That was some left hook, Sam. I didn’t even know you were a lefty.”

  What did the fact Sam was left-handed have to do with anything? “Tom? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. I wish the statute of limitations on assault and battery wasn’t up on an incident from eleven years ago.”

  “What incident?” Lucy was confused. This made no sense. They were arresting Sam for fraud and also assault and battery against a police officer now. What happened eleven years ago?

  “Sam knows what I’m talking about.” He looked at the angry young man. “Don’t you?” He shifted his jaw and straightened to his full height. “You told me you had a girlfriend years ago that died in a car accident.”

  “So?”

  “Tell me her name.” Tom stood nose-to-nose with Sam.

  “You already figured it out. Why should I?” He smiled at Tom. “You people are so perfect, living your perfect little lives, acting like nothing ever goes wrong. Some of us had to claw and scrape to ever get ahead. But you know what? I didn’t kill Annabelle. Jared Benton did.”

  Tom rubbed his jaw angrily. “Get him out of here.”

  The trooper led Sam out into the hall and to a waiting car.

  “Tom? What is going on?” Lucy went to Tom’s side and pulled his hand away from his jaw and grimaced. “Ouch. You need an ice pack. Sit. I’ll be right back.” She looked at the other two men, obviously shaken. “Don’t talk until I get back. Please.”

  She ran out of the room, straight to the kitchenette area where she had drunk coffee with both Tom and Sam. And to think she considered dating Sam. She looked in the freezer of the small refrigerator and was relieved to see a box of ice packs for times such as this. She wrapped it in a threadbare dishcloth and took it into the conference room, glad to miss the main squad room.

  “Thanks, Lucy.” Tom took the ice pack and put it to his face. “That was a real left hook. Who knew a computer guy could do that?”

  “Computer guy? What’s that got to do with Jared? What has any of this got to do with Jared?” Frustration raised the decibels of her voice another level. Fear made it shake. Were there things she didn’t know about Jared? Were there things Sarah didn’t know about Jared?

  Chapter Thirty

  He couldn’t be the one to tell Lucy about Jared and the tragedy that killed Annabelle, his high school girlfriend. It wasn’t his story to tell. Sarah knew, and she understood. As far as he knew, beyond Jared’s parents and Prudie, he and Sarah were the only ones alive who knew what really happened that rainy night.

  Tom looked across the table at the judge and the mayor. “Gentlemen, I’m sorry we had to bring you into this.”

  Judge Simpson held up a hand. “Tom, I’m glad I was here to see it all first-hand. You can be sure I’ll be in touch with Watson’s supervisor. I am curious, though. What does Jared Benton have to do with all this?”

  “This? Nothing. An old grudge dating back several years. As I said, unfortunately, any wrong-doing by Sam back then is protected by the statute of limitations.”

  “There’s no statute of limitations on murder.” Mayor Hynes narrowed his eyes. “I’ve always had a lot of respect for Mr. Benton, and I know Alex Crawford did, but an allegation of murder is tantamount to libel.”

  “Yes, sir, it is. You can be sure I’ll talk to Jared. If he wants to press charges, I’ll be glad to serve the arrest warrant.” He looked over at Lucy. There were tears in her eyes. They hadn’t fallen. She was holding it together, but they were brimming.

  Help me out, Lord.

  Tom stood, as did the other two men. “I’ll keep you posted, gentlemen.”

  “I’ll expect a full audit of the relief fund to see how much we’ve lost.” Judge Simpson shook Tom’s hand and Lucy’s.

  Mayor Hynes did the same. “You can be assured that nothing that happened in this room will leave it until the proper time. This investigation isn’t over, I’m certain.”

  Tom nodded approval and looked over at Lucy as the men exited the room. “Let’s get out of here for a little while.”

  “Yes, please.” She gathered the papers and began to place them in her binder. “Will you need these?”

  “I’m afraid so. I can take them if you’d like.”

  “I never want to see them again.” She handed him the sheaf of papers. As she picked up her purse and phone, she paused. “Why did Sam accuse Jared of murder?”

  Tom sighed. It was going to come up. “Jared didn’t murder anybody.”

  “Why did Sam say that?” Confusion was etched on her face.

  He held the door for her and ushered her into the hallway. Sheriff Oakley came to them. “Had a little excitement?”

  “Yes, sir, and I will be back to write up my report.”

  “Don’t wait too long. Details get fuzzy after you leave the scene.” The older gentleman nodded. “See you after a while.”

  “Thank you, sir.” He took Lucy’s hand and led her to the door. “We need to talk.”

  Lucy didn’t say a word as she got in the car and Tom started driving. She didn’t know where they were going. It was the last thing on her mind. Lucy’s thoughts were a scramble of images: the many moods of Sam Watson, Jared and murder, statutes of limitation, Sarah, the wedding, Tom. And who in the world was Annabelle? She was old enough to know life was messy, and not everyone has a pristine past. But did a less-than-perfect past have to affect her best friend?

  God, there’s a reason I’m here. I’m going
to wait and see what it is.

  When she realized they had stopped, she looked up to find the car parked close to the walkway to the beach at Pilot Oaks. They were far enough away from the house that they didn’t need to stop in and talk, but Lucy waved at Robert Crawford. He was trimming a crepe myrtle bush that had been damaged in the storm.

  “Let’s go for a walk.”

  She nodded. High heeled pumps weren’t the best footwear for walking on the beach. As soon as she got to the bench next to the head of the boardwalk, she pulled them off and walked barefoot, leaving her shoes next to Tom’s.

  Tom reached for her hand, and they walked in silence for a few minutes. She didn’t dare interrupt his thoughts. Hers were a scramble, and she didn’t know what was going on. How crazy must the thoughts be in his head?

  The salty breeze and lower humidity had a calming effect on her nerves. When Tom squeezed her hand and stopped, she faced him. At least she tried to. She faced his shirt buttons, which made her smile when she looked up in his face. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For bringing me here.” She tilted her head, trying to relax, knowing the worry line was still between her brows. She could feel the tension. “The beach always helps.”

  He looked around at the peaceful scene. “It does, doesn’t it?” His half-smile was tender and a little sad.

  “You said we need to talk.”

  “Yes. There are things I’m not at liberty to tell you. Some things happened eleven years ago that pretty much crushed Jared for a while. It wasn’t until last year, when he met Sarah, that he seemed to put it behind him.” He narrowed his eyes. “Do you understand?”

  “No, but I do understand the trust of a friend. I don’t need to know everything, unless Jared wants me to.” She wanted, terribly, to know what had happened, but this was where faith came in, wasn’t it?

  “Eleven years ago, Jared and his girlfriend, Annabelle, were in a car accident. They were both injured, and Annabelle didn’t make it. Jared’s memories of that night are sketchy.”

  She pondered this information for a minute. She looked up at Tom’s shuttered eyes. There was more. “And where does Sam Watson come into this?”

  “We think he may have been dating Annabelle while Jared was away at college.” He looked away. He drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “That’s really all I can say.”

  “Let me get this straight. Annabelle was cheating on Jared, with Sam, and now he’s accusing Jared of murdering Annabelle?” This didn’t make sense. There had to be more to it than that.

  “There are a few details that are Jared’s to tell. I’m sorry.”

  “Does Sarah know? I mean, she’s going to marry the man, and she’s my best friend.” Her nerves were beginning to rev up again, along with the tears.

  “Sarah knows the whole story.” He pulled her to him in a hug. “It’ll be all right, Luce. It will. Jared isn’t a murderer. He’s a guy who got caught in a situation not of his choosing. A situation that, if anything, drew him closer to God.”

  She relaxed into his arms and began to sob. She could hear that still, small voice. “Trust me.” God was on the move. Could it be possible that her merciful Father could even save Sam?

  Jared had lived through this trauma and was still, to some extent, living through it. But he was humble. He was merciful. He walked justly. Could she do the same, trusting God not only with herself, but also with her best friend? She was so used to organizing and micro-managing her life and the lives of everyone around her that she had only used faith when it was convenient. Times when she couldn’t understand why things like this would happen.

  She knew her dad was with God, in Heaven. She knew her mother was too. Those were the big, complex things she couldn’t, in her humanity, understand, so she left it up to God. But things like this? Things that could be avoided, like someone with a past? That’s where she tended to use her own sensibilities and stick to the high road. She was all about pulling people up to where she was, but was she willing to get down in the dirt with them and work alongside them?

  Her tears were spent, soaking the front of Tom’s dress shirt. “I’m sorry. Your shirt may never be the same.”

  Tom laughed and tightened his grip on her. “That’s all right. I didn’t like this one that much anyway.”

  She pulled away and wiped her face with the hankie he pulled from his pocket. When she finished her face, she tried to wipe his shirt. “It’s a good thing. It has mascara and eyeliner on it.” She gave him a twisted grin.

  “Do you think you need to go talk to Jared?” She narrowed her eyes with sympathy. It couldn’t be a pleasant conversation.

  “I do. Go with me? Sarah may need support too.” His pleading expression tugged at her heart.

  “Of course I will. And if you need to talk without me there, don’t you dare hesitate to ask me to leave. Promise?” She gave him her most teacher-like glare.

  He smiled, and the sun came out in her heart. “I promise.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  A man in a dark suit was coming out of Jared’s hospital room when Tom and Lucy arrived.

  “Nate?” Annabelle’s brother?

  The man turned at the mention of his name and flinched slightly at the sight of Tom.

  “Livingston.”

  Tom felt his blood pumping. Had Nate come back to harass Jared and Sarah again? Last year’s encounter at a park in Charleston had almost scared Sarah to death.

  “What brings you here?”

  Jernigan cleared his throat and faced Tom, hands on his hips. “I came to see Jared.”

  When he did, Tom saw a badge and a holster.

  “In what capacity?”

  Nate brushed his hand across his nose and looked away for a second, his throat moving with emotion. “I saw Sam Watson earlier.”

  “And?”

  “And he spilled it all. He was one angry young man.” He pulled out his ID and showed it to Tom. “I work for the state police, Critical Response Team, couple of years now.”

  This was the first he’d heard of this. “Why’d you come all the way over here to see Jared?” Tom wanted to hear him say he was wrong. Nate Jernigan had spread rumors and filth about Jared ever since his sister died. He glanced over at Lucy, whose eyes were as big as saucers. Poor girl, she didn’t have a clue.

  “I came to make things right.”

  “For eleven years of bashing his reputation and threatening him?” Tom’s hands balled up into fists, but he relaxed when Lucy reached out and grabbed his arm.

  “Tom.” Did God send Lucy’s still, small voice because he wasn’t listening to His?

  Nate bowed his head. “Last year, when I met Jared and his girlfriend in Charleston, I was in a bad place. I was drinking too much, I was in trouble on the job, and my girlfriend had broken up with me. She’d had enough. When I saw Jared, I remembered what Annabelle looked like in that hospital bed. It was like every bruise on her came from him, and every bitter thought was his fault.” He raked his hand over his face. “Sam Watson was raving like a lunatic. He saw me in the hallway and started yelling Annabelle’s name, so I asked to talk to him.”

  “What did he tell you?”

  “Everything. He was angry at Annabelle for going out with Jared that night yet thought hitting her and asking her to get an abortion was okay. He said he was going to go back and make up with her, but he wanted her to realize how much she missed him first. He blamed Jared for her death, when he caused it, if you want to look at it that way. He blamed Annabelle for every bit of unhappiness he experienced.” He shook his head. “It was sickening.”

  Lucy spoke up. “So Jared didn’t––”

  “Jared didn’t do anything except be the Boy Scout he always was.” Nate gave her a bitter smile. “He was being a friend, helping her in a bad situation. When we found out Annabelle was pregnant, we assumed the worst, that it was his. Mom and Dad had relaxed their rules with Annabelle because they had trusted Jared. They had no
idea she was sneaking out to see Sam. They didn’t know him, and I was already grown and gone into the military. I’ve worked in the same building as he for two years and didn’t know there was any connection between him and my family.”

  Tom held out his hand. “Thank you, Nate.”

  He snorted and took Tom’s hand, shaking it. “Nothing to thank me for. I’ve learned a lot in the last year, and in the last few hours I think I’ve learned even more. Life’s too short to hold a grudge.”

  Sarah was wiping tears from her eyes when Lucy and Tom entered the room. Jared looked like he had seen a ghost.

  “Are you two okay?” Lucy looked from one to the other.

  Jared spoke first. “For me, I feel like a ton of weight has been lifted.” He squeezed Sarah’s hand. “I think Sarah’s more emotional than I am.”

  “I remember how scared I was when we met up with him at Battery Park. Do you think he had been drinking that night?”

  Jared nodded. “I smelled it on him.” He scooted over in his bed and pulled on her hand to sit beside him. “And now his family will know what really happened.” He sobered. “I hate they have to know all that.”

  Tom shook his head. “When I met him in the hallway, I felt sick.”

  Jared smiled. “Me too. I thought he was here for round-whatever.” He sobered. “Sounds like he’s getting his life back together.”

  “Yeah, about the time Sam Watson’s is falling apart.” Tom shook his head. “He needs our prayers.”

  Lucy observed the two men. Their lives had been in upheaval because of these two men, and here they were, talking about praying for them. She smiled and wiped away tears all at the same time. Sarah had found herself quite a man.

  Jared looked up at Tom. “Nate told me Sam tested positive for drugs.”

  Lucy perked up. “That explains the cash withdrawals from the relief fund.”

  Tom nodded. “I’m sure it does. It didn’t make any sense to me, but drugs do things to your brain that are pretty unexplainable.”