“You need to rest. Call Blake, set up a meeting for seven tonight. Meet at a restaurant, someplace where we can talk without the chance of being overheard. After your call, turn off your phone and sleep.”
****
“What’s he doing here?” Blake Baxter asked, as he stood looking at River and Gage sitting at the table. “And what the hell happened to you? I hope it wasn’t due to my case.” His anger seemed to abate.
“Gage has agreed to work with me. Take a seat and I’ll explain,” River said.
“Right. He’s done with my parent’s case. He claims it was my father’s fault.”
River started to defend Gage, but before she could, he placed a hand on her knee and gave it a slight squeeze. She put her hand over his in an unspoken understanding, and he rotated his to lace his fingers through River’s.
“You’ve every right to feel like you do, Blake. I came to the conclusion I did based on the data I had at the time. I did a thorough job with what I had to work with, and believed my conclusion correct. I’m not sorry for that,” Gage said. He watched as Blake bristled and continued on. “I am sorry for my incorrect conclusion. And for that, I sincerely apologize and hope you will allow me to set the record straight.”
River and Gage waited while Blake digested the information. They watched him, neither making a single move.
“Thank you for your apology,” Blake finally said. “I do believe you did your best. We’re all human, and we all make mistakes. It takes a special person to admit when they’re wrong and I welcome your help.”
Gage heard River let out a breath. He’d been holding his too, but hoped no one noticed.
“Great! Let’s get started,” River said.
“Hold on. You didn’t answer my second question. Are the bruises on your face linked to my case?” Blake asked.
“Yes. I’m getting a little too close for someone’s comfort. I suppose I should tell you now. You’ll probably receive a large bill from the car rental place,” River said.
“You dinged up a car, don’t give it another thought.”
“She didn’t ding it. Some jackass used her as a moving target. Between ramming the back of River’s rental and shooting at her, she’s damned lucky to be here tonight,” Gage said, as River frowned at him.
Blake looked at River in horror. “Are you going to be all right? Are you sure you should be here?” His total demeanor changed.
“It’s part of my business. I’ll be fine, just a bit sore,” she said.
The waiter came to take their drink orders. Gage ordered River a sparkling water with lime and got yet another dirty look. When the waiter left, River jumped into her plan.
“I’d like you to inform Garnet and Ellis that I want to meet with the three of you tomorrow afternoon to update you on the case. Time and place is up to your discretion.”
Blake nearly choked on his sip of water.
“Ellis? Why Ellis? I’ve argued a number of times with Garnet about keeping family business private.”
“And it will be a perfect opportunity to explain yourself,” River said. “Tell her you’ve given it some thought about what you said, and you were wrong. Tell Garnet she’s correct. Ellis will soon be part of the family and as such should be included.”
“If that’s what you want,” Blake said, as he shook his head. “But I’m gonna get a ration of shit from my sister. And I still don’t understand why you want him there.”
“There’s a possibility either Garnet or Ellis could be leaking information.”
“Well, I can tell you, it’s not Garnet. I admit, she doesn’t seem able to keep from updating Ellis, but that’s all it is. So that leaves, Ellis. For what purpose would he leak information?” Blake asked.
“Difficult to say. It could simply be he’s relaying the information in general conversation with someone. Tomorrow, I will inform all of you, your grandmother will be coming to town the following day, and she has something she would like to discuss with you in person. Gage and I will pick her up at SeaTac and bring her directly to the house.”
“What? Gran’s coming up? I’m thrilled…but what could she possibly tell us?” Blake asked. “Tell me, what does she know?”
“She wouldn’t tell me. She just asked that I arrange the meeting.”
“Is this regarding my parent’s homicide, or my half-sister?”
“If we’re on the right track, both.”
“I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t tell him the entire truth,” Gage said. He opened the car door for River and helped her in. The meeting had drained her, she was clammy and pale.
“I’m not going to point fingers at his sister’s fiancé until I’m certain,” River said.
“Hm…I thought it might be because you still aren’t sure he won’t run back to his sister and tell her everything.”
She gave him a sly look and smiled.
Chapter Eleven
“Roger,” Gage said, and hung up his phone. “That was my pilot friend, the flight went fine. The soft-clothes officers were there upon arrival and took Mrs. Darnell and Tami to the safe house,” he told River as the two of them and a decoy of Mrs. Darnell headed south on I-5.
“Good to know. Have we picked up our tail yet?” River asked.
“Can’t say for sure, but our rest stop is coming up soon.”
His phone beeped and he glanced at the text displayed.
“They’re all set at the rest stop. This should go smoothly.”
“From your mouth,” River said.
Gage popped on his headlights as the sun set.
“I’m sure glad we waited until after sunset to run this op. I mean you’re good, but I don’t think you could pull off Mrs. Darnell in the daytime,” Gage said, as he glanced in the rear-view mirror.
“You’re welcome, numbnuts,” replied the female officer in the backseat.
“Oh, I see you’ve worked together before.” River giggled.
“You could say that.” The officer rolled her eyes.
“Funny,” Gage said. “Let’s get our game faces on. We’re two miles out.”
They pulled into the rest stop and parked across the lot and a few spaces down from the restrooms. A dark-colored sedan pulled in a few minutes later and parked four spaces away, placing another parked car between them.
Gage and River got out of the car. Gage headed for the restrooms, while River helped Mrs. Darnell from the vehicle. The two women entered the restroom together. Shortly after, Mrs. Darnell exited the restroom and walked back toward their vehicle. She strolled by their car and walked over to sit at the picnic table directly in front of the dark sedan. Her back was to the sedan.
The passenger door and one of the back doors of the sedan opened. Two men got out and looked around the rest area. There were two other vehicles in the area, the one between them and Mrs. Darnell’s ride and a pickup truck with a horse trailer attached, half-a-dozen spots away. The two men nodded to each other and headed in the direction of Mrs. Darnell. In less than thirty seconds they taped her mouth, threw a bag over her head and dragged her back to their sedan. One man shoved her into the backseat, and jumped in behind her as the other got into the front.
“Go, go, go…” Came the voice through the radio Gage held in his hand. The pickup backed into the middle of the parking area, and the doors of the horse trailer sprang open, six officers in complete riot gear jumped out, armed with Remington 870 shotguns aimed at the sedan. The sedan started backing up quickly. Sirens blared and lights flashed as police cruisers blocked all exits in and out of the rest-stop. The sedan stopped, but there was no other movement.
Gage took the bullhorn handed to him.
“You’re surrounded. Throw your weapons from the vehicle and come out with your hands up. Any hostile actions will be met with d
eadly force.”
Nothing happened. They waited a beat, then two.
“Okay,” yelled the driver. “We’re tossing our weapons.”
The weapons were tossed, and the three doors opened. The three men exited the vehicles hands held high in the air. The policewoman came out directly behind them, her gun drawn and pointed at the two men in front of her.
Two hours later, Gage and River headed for the Baxter residence.
“It kind of surprised me those imbeciles gave up so easily,” River said.
“Guess they were smart enough to know they wouldn’t get out of their predicament in one piece,” Gage said. “Actually what surprised me was how fast they flipped on Ellis.”
“They didn’t want to go down for the murder of the Baxters. Thanks for verifying their stories of being in Hawaii so quickly.”
“My pleasure,” Gage reached out and covered her hand in his.
“We work well together. I see a productive future for us.” She smiled at him. “In more ways than one.” She laced her fingers in his, brought them up to her mouth and kissed his hand.
They arrived at the Baxter residence just as Ellis was being escorted, handcuffed, to the waiting police cruiser. Blake held his sister, Garnet, as she sobbed into his shoulder.
“I feel sorry for Garnet. Her whole world has crumbled around her,” Gage said.
“Better now than after she married the bastard and he killed off the rest of her family and then her,” River said.
An unmarked vehicle pulled up and Mrs. Darnell was helped from the back seat. River walked over and greeted the older woman.
“I can’t begin to thank you for what you’ve done for my family,” Mrs. Darnell said.
“They still have some difficult times ahead. But at least their parents’ killer will be prosecuted,” River said.
The door on the other side of the vehicle opened and a young woman stepped out. She looked like a combination of both Blake and Garnet.
Blake noticed his grandmother and the other woman. He said something to Garnet and pointed in their direction. Garnet wiped her eyes and followed her brother down to the car. He reached his grandmother first and hugged her fiercely, his love for her evident. Garnet followed suit.
“I thought it past time you met your sister, Tami,” Mrs. Darnell said.
Time seemed to crawl by as the three siblings gawked at one another. Shock and surprise flashed across both Blake’s and Garnet’s face. Finally Garnet smiled and wrapped her sister in a bear hug, tears streaming down both cheeks.
“My baby sister! Welcome to the family. I feel as if I’ve known you my entire life. We have so very much catching up to do. We want to hear all about your life. Everything. The important events and the everyday happenings.”
Tears gathered in Tami’s eyes and started to leak. Garnet pulled away, still holding her shoulders as she studied the girl.
“I can’t wait to show you pictures of Mom at your age. You look just like her, doesn’t she, Blake?”
“She does, yes,” Blake said.
“Thank you so much for welcoming me. I wasn’t sure what your reactions would be,” Tami said as she dabbed at her teary eyes.
“Of course we would welcome you. Not only because it was what Mom wanted, but because you are our sister, our blood,” Blake said. He pulled Tami into his arms. “Welcome home, little sister. We know that you have a life and parents who have loved and raised you. But you need to know this too will always be your home and we, your family.”
Mrs. Darnell stood silently dabbing at her wet eyes with her lace handkerchief and watching her all of grandchildren. She turned to River and hugged her.
“Thank you, River, for not giving up, for seeing this through to the end. You have righted a wrong that happened so many years ago. You’ve given me the one thing I believed would never come to fruition. For that you have my eternal gratitude,” she whispered. She pulled away and smiled at her. “I feel I’ve gained another granddaughter in you and I expect that you and your beau will visit me often.”
“Oh, no…we’re not,” River stammered.
“Give it time, child.” Mrs. Darnell smiled at her and then she turned and winked at Gage.
“Let’s take Tami up to the house,” Garnet said. She reached out and took Tami’s hand in hers and offered her other hand to her grandmother.
The quartet started for the house. Suddenly, Blake turned back and walked over to River.
“I can’t even begin to say thank you.”
“You just did. Go be with your family. You know where to find me, when you’re ready.”
Six weeks later…
A key rattled in River’s apartment door. She ran over to open it. Gage stood there juggling take-out from one of their favorite places and a wrapped box. She kissed him and took the gift from his hand.
“For me?”
“Naturally.” He set the boxes on the kitchen table and picked up a glass of wine from the counter. “Don’t you think we should talk about finding a bigger place? I mean, I’m here nearly all of the time. I want to make it official.”
“I don’t want to leave my girlfriends. But I did speak to Uncle Mike today. He said the unit at the end of the hall will be empty in another month—two bedrooms, large living area, a kitchen and dining room.” She opened the box and found a stunning cobalt blue charmeuse pullover. “It’s perfect, I love it!”
“I thought it would highlight your dazzling eyes.”
Music from River’s favorite oldies station streamed through the speakers. A Beatles song started playing. Gage grabbed River and started dancing to the song, P.S. I love you. As the song reached the chorus, he belted out his own lyrics: “P.I. ~ I Love You.”
River froze and stared at him.
He continued singing… “you, you, you…I love you.”
She jumped up into his arms, wrapped her legs around his waist, and kissed him, over and over, until he could hardly breathe.
“I don’t know a fancy song, but I do love you, more than I ever thought possible,” she whispered between breaths.
“That’s music to my ears.” At that precise moment Gage knew he could never get enough of River Nightingale.
Look for the other titles in The Miss Demeanor Series
P.I. I Love You - Joanne Jaytanie
Choreographed Crime - Jackie Marilla
Bare- Angela Ford
Golden Ribbons - Lauren Marie
About the Author Joanne Jaytanie
Joanne was born and raised in Sherburne, New York, a quaint village surrounded by dairy farms and rolling hills. From the moment she could read she wanted to explore the world. During her college years she slowly crept across the country, stopping along the way in Oklahoma, California, and finally Washington State, which she now proudly calls home. She lives with her husband and Dobermans, in their home located on the Olympic Peninsula with a panoramic view of the Olympic Mountains.
Joanne writes romantic suspense, paranormal, and contemporary romance. She loves to submerge herself in the world of her characters, to live and breathe their lives and marvel at their decisions and predicaments. She enjoys a wide variety of books including paranormal, suspense, thriller, and of course romance.
Joanne is a member of Romance Writers of America, and past President of Peninsula Romance Writers, which was Debbie Macomber’s home chapter.
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P.I. I Love You (Miss Demeanor Suspense Series Book 1) Page 7