“It didn’t have to be this way, Jessica. If you’d simply stopped nosing around where you didn’t belong, none of this would be happening now.”
Finding her voice, Jessica croaked, “I don’t understand. Why are you doing this?”
Instead of answering right away, Jasper took hold of the hem of her shirt and wiped the blood away from her nose. “I’m pretty sure that airbag broke your nose.”
An image of headlights rushing up behind her—the car slamming into the back of her SUV, lit through her mind. “You ran me off the road.” It wasn’t a question.
“You left me no choice. This is all your fault, Jessica. Sandy Weaver, Eustice Martin, all of it.”
Jessica squinted up at him. “What are you talking about?” Her gaze flicked to the knife Jasper held in his hand.
He glanced down at the blade and without warning, cut the bonds at Jessica’s feet. “Get up.”
“J-Jasper…”
Gripping her by the hair, Jasper yanked her upright and then shoved her toward the door. “Move.”
Jessica stumbled to her knees, so great was her terror. It took her several tries to push back to her feet. “What’s happening, Jasper? I—”
The click of a hammer being cocked shut down the rest of Jessica’s plea.
She staggered forward in fear and disbelief, opened the door and stepped out into the rain.
“Keep moving,” Jasper demanded, pressing his weapon between her shoulder blades.
Jessica trudged through the mud, her gaze on the moonlight reflecting off the water’s surface up ahead. “What are you going to do with me?”
“What I should have done in the beginning.”
Jessica opened her mouth to keep him talking when her gaze landed on a shovel resting next to a deep hole in the earth a few feet ahead of her.
She dug in her heels, spinning around to face him. “Oh, my God. Please, Jasper. I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I’ll do anything. Just tell me what you want from me.”
“Get in the hole, Jessica.”
A sob escaped her. Tears of terror spilled from her eyes to mingle with the rain tracking down her face. She glanced at the pistol he held and then shifted her gaze back to his face. “I’m begging you, Jasper!”
He took a step closer, raising the gun higher. “Get in the fucking hole.”
An image of a smiling Owen flashed through Jessica’s mind—a smile she would never have a chance to look upon again. She stepped into the hole.
“I really don’t enjoy having to do this,” Jasper admitted in an offhanded manner.
Jessica took a shuddering breath, scared beyond anything she’d ever experienced before. “Then don’t. Please. I won’t tell anyone.”
“It’s far too late for that. Someone has to take the blame for Sandy and Eustice Martin’s deaths.”
Understanding dawned. “You killed Sandy and Eustice? But why?”
“When Melanie told me about your unexpected visit to see her, and that you’d tracked down Sandy Weaver, I had to do something to stop you from digging deeper. So I killed Sandy, knowing full well the police would find your fingerprints there.”
He continued speaking, his finger caressing the trigger of his gun. “Eustice was simply a casualty of circumstance. Once the police find the knife that killed him and Sandy, they’ll spend the next decade searching for you.”
Jessica thought about poor Owen, and how he would spend the rest of his life thinking his wife murdered two people. “Why kill those people just to frame me? It makes no sense. All I ever wanted was to find out what happened to your son.”
Jasper rolled his head on his neck as if Jessica’s words struck a cord in him. “You really want to know what happened to my son? I had him killed.”
The ground tilted beneath Jessica’s feet. She covered her mouth with her hand to hold back the cry that rose in her throat.
“I had no choice,” Jasper murmured, rubbing at his forehead with his free hand. “He’d seen something he shouldn’t. I couldn’t risk him telling his mother. I would have spent the rest of my life in prison if I didn’t die in the electric chair first.”
His manic gaze locked on Jessica once more. “I’m a monster, Mrs. Nobles. As was Eustice. For years, we traveled to different states, abducting young girls and selling them to the highest bidder.”
“Sex trafficking,” Jessica whispered through numb lips.
Jasper shrugged. “Something like that. We made a lot of money in those few short years. Until Eustice started damaging the merchandise…which significantly lowered their value on the market if they survived at all.”
Bile rushed into Jessica’s mouth. She leaned forward and heaved into her waiting grave.
“The last girl we brought home,” Jasper continued as if discussing the weather, “was a pretty one. I decided to keep her in my basement overnight to ensure Eustice didn’t damage or kill her. I never dreamed that Terry would wake up and find her down there.”
More horror slammed into Jessica. Terry had witnessed the little girl’s terror at the hands of his own father.
Jasper took a step forward, his weapon aimed at Jessica’s chest. “You see? He left me no choice. He began crying, growing hysterical. I was afraid he would wake Melanie. So, I took him to Eustice to take care of.”
“You had Eustice kill your only child?” Jessica cried, unable to keep the horror from her voice. “What did he do to him?”
Jasper nodded to a place on Jessica’s left. “He’s buried there next to that willow tree.”
“The little girl,” Jess choked out. “The girl who’s face I saw in the lake?”
“There’s more than one girl in that lake.” He pulled the trigger.
An explosion rocked Jessica’s skull, and something slammed into her body with a force that took her feet out from under her.
She couldn’t inhale, couldn’t move or think. Her eyes began to roll back in her head until she knew nothing more.
Chapter Forty-Five
The sound of gunfire ricocheted through the trees, followed by the rumble of distant thunder.
“Jessica!” Owen shouted, vaulting over a downed fence now illuminated by the lightning.
He could hear Ruckle running through the brush behind him, his labored breathing, mirroring Owen’s own.
Owen suddenly burst through a clearing, his legs eating up the ground as he raced toward a small cabin in the distance.
“I’ll check around back,” Ruckle barked, sailing past the open door of the cabin.
Owen burst inside, his gaze scanning the interior of the place to find it empty.
He rushed back into the rain and ran toward the lake he’d seen in the distance.
Another shot rang out, sending Owen’s heart into his throat. “Jessicaaaa!”
More lightning arced across the sky, illuminating a figure holding a gun.
“That’s far enough,” the figure snarled from the shadows.
Owen skidded to a stop, nearly falling over Ruckle, who lay still at his feet. “Where’s my wife?”
“You must be Owen. Jessica’s dead, same as Steven.” He nodded toward Ruckle’s downed form.
A moan of denial ripped from Owen’s chest. He jumped over Ruckle’s body, not caring that he would die next. “Fuck you, you piece of shit!”
A deafening explosion resonated through Owen’s head, followed by another and yet another. With every shot that rang out, Jasper’s body violently jerked until he dropped limply to his back.
Owen spun in a half circle, his gaze scanning the darkness beyond. There was someone else out there, someone besides Jasper. It took him a moment to realize his legs shook too much for him to stand. He dropped to his knees in the mud.
Melanie staggered from the shadows still holding a gun in her trembling hands.
“He killed my baby,” she groaned, emptying two more rounds into Jasper’s body. “He killed my Terry…” She began to sob uncontrollably before crumpling to heap next to J
asper.
Owen crawled forward on his hands and knees, searching the darkness for signs of Jessica. She couldn’t be dead, he mentally chanted…she just couldn’t be.
Another lightning strike provided enough light to see the hole in the earth ahead.
Owen scrambled closer until his upper body hung over the edge. He could see the outline of a body huddled inside.
In a panic, he threw his legs over the side, careful not to step on Jessica. And he knew it to be Jess as surely as he knew he would die without her.
“Ah, God, Jess…no.” Tucking an arm behind her head and one beneath her knees, he lifted her wet, muddied body high against his chest and climbed from that hole.
He didn’t slow until he nearly ran into a white truck parked around back of the cabin. He opened the passenger side door, crying anew as the interior light spilled across Jessica’s bloodied form.
“Jess?” he choked out, pressing his ear against her muddied lips. The slightest hint of breath could be felt tickling his skin.
She lived. His Jessica was still alive.
Owen gently laid her on the seat, quickly shut the door, and ran around to the driver’s side. He jumped behind the wheel and pulled Jessica’s head onto his lap.
Putting the truck in reverse, Owen gave it as much gas as he could without burying the tires in the mud, and then circled the cabin. “Hang on, baby. I’m gonna get you some help!”
The headlights of the truck touched on Melanie Dayton long enough for Owen to see her lift the gun to her head and pull the trigger. She dropped limply across Jasper’s body.
But Owen had no time to dwell on the Daytons. Jessica was hurt, and he needed to get her some help before it was too late.
He pressed the accelerator and drove toward the main road with every prayer he could think of falling from his lips.
Flashing lights and sirens were a relief to Owen’s terrified soul as he rounded a corner to find a convoy of police cars headed toward him. He pulled the truck to the edge of the gravel road while tears of relief leaked from his eyes. “They’re here, Jess. Help is here.”
Chapter Forty-Six
Jessica woke to a painful throbbing sensation in her shoulder. She moved to lift her arm, but the pain became unbearable.
“Easy,” Owen soothed, his face appearing above her. “Try not to move.”
She focused on Owen’s eyes, her thoughts scattered and fuzzy. “Where am I?”
“You’re in the hospital, Jess.”
“Hospital?” she repeated, noticing a beeping sound near her head.
Owen gaze softened, and he bent to brush his lips across her forehead. “You’re fine now. You’re going to be alright.”
Memory began to creep back in and the beeping noise next to her head picked up its pace. “He shot me. Jasper Dayton shot me.”
“Nurse?” Owen called out, his voice filled with concern. He leaned in close to Jessica’s face once more. “It’s okay, Jess. He’s gone. He can never hurt you again.”
Images of Jasper holding that gun on her swirled through Jessica’s head. She shuddered with the memory of falling into that mud-filled grave.
“Mrs. Nobles?” A nurse appeared in Jessica’s line of vision. “How are you feeling?”
Jessica blinked up at her. “Like I’ve been hit by a truck.”
“See this button here?” The nurse held up a small, white device attached to a tube. “It’s a PCA pump that contains your pain medicine. The pump is connected through a tube to a vein in your body. You press a button when you feel pain and the pump gives you a dose of medicine set by your doctor. Don’t worry about giving yourself too much because the pump will be set to prevent that. Do you understand?”
Jessica nodded, accepting the device placed in her hand. She pressed the button.
The nurse glanced behind her and then back at Jessica. “The police are here to see you. Do you feel up to talking to them? I can have them come back if you’re not up for it.”
“That’s fine,” she murmured, already feeling the effects of the pain medicine.
Owen interjected, “She just had surgery last night. Can’t this wait until she’s stronger?”
Jessica released her hold on that precious button and touched Owen on the hand. “It’s okay. I can do this.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am.”
The nurse wandered over to the door and pulled it open to admit Chief of Police, Gary Randall and Detective Vickerson from the Banbridge County Sheriff’s Department.
Vickerson spoke first. “Mrs. Nobles? Are you up to answering a few questions? We’ll keep it brief.”
Jessica spent the next twenty minutes reliving her time with Jasper Dayton. She told the officers about Eustice and Jasper’s sex trafficking business and how Terry Dayton had lost his life because of it. She also informed them of the location of Terry’s grave, along with the bodies in the lake.
A brief pause ensued. Jessica met Gary Randall’s gaze. “Has Melanie Dayton been told about her husband?”
Randall ran a hand down his face and then flipped his notepad closed. “That’s enough for today. We’ll get out of here and let you rest now.”
Jessica looked from Randall to Vickerson before settling her heavy gaze on Owen. “What…is it?”
“Nothing for you to be concerned about. Get some sleep and we’ll talk more when you’re rested.”
Jess wanted nothing more than to sleep, but something in Owen’s eyes, prevented her from closing her own. “What are…you…”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Owen watched Jessica’s eyes slide closed before she’d fully completed her sentence.
He released her hand and turned to follow Vickerson and the police chief from the room.
They stopped in the hall to face him.
Vickerson appeared contrite. “I’m sorry about your wife, Mr. Nobles. If it’s any consolation, she’s been cleared of any suspicion surrounding Sandy Weaver’s death. We found the murder weapon on Jasper Dayton’s person along with his fingerprints.”
“I’m betting Eustice Martin’s blood is on that knife as well,” Chief Randall admitted.
Owen leaned a shoulder against the wall, relieved that Jess had been cleared. “What happens now?”
“Since Jasper and Eustice Martin are dead,” Randall began, “there will be no need for trial. We’ll get your wife’s official statement once she’s released, and then go from there. God only knows how many bodies we’ll find at that lake.”
Owen pushed away from the wall and extended his hand to Randall. “Once you have what you need from Jessica, I’ll be taking her back to Chicago.”
Randall accepted his outstretched palm. “I can’t say that I blame you. We’ll be excavating the Dayton’s property and dragging the lake in search of more bodies.”
“What will happen to Terry Dayton’s remains?” Owen hoped the child would have a decent memorial.
“The city will be paying for his burial. I’ll let you know the details of that as soon as I have them.”
“I appreciate it.”
Owen returned to his wife’s room and pulled up a chair next to her bedside. She looked so pale and fragile lying there hooked up to all those tubes.
“I’m sorry, Jess. I’m sorry for everything.”
She made a sound in the back of her throat, though her eyes remained closed.
Owen vowed in that moment to spend the rest of his life making up for his mistakes. He’d spent so many years attempting to be the strong one, when in truth, it was Jessica that held all the strength. She’d followed her heart no matter who or how many were against her…including her husband.
He reached over the railing of the bed and laid his palm over the back of her hand. “I hope you can forgive me, Jess, because if you can’t, I don’t know what I’ll do. I promise you that I’ll spend the rest of my life proving to you, how much I love you.”
She didn’t answer, but the fingers beneath his, lifted in the bare
st of caresses, telling him without words that she heard him.
* * * *
Owen remained next to Jessica at Terry Dayton’s gravesite, long after the small crowd who’d attended, dispersed. He didn’t speak, figuring Jessica needed the quiet to say her goodbyes.
Terry had been buried next to his mother, Melanie. Though, Owen didn’t know what became of Jasper’s ashes; he did know that Jasper’s family had him cremated.
Steven Ruckle was laid to rest a few days after Jess had been released from the hospital. She had attended his funeral with Owen at her side.
Jessica had spent the last two weeks, healing physically, but mentally, she’d remained detached.
Not that Owen blamed her. If he’d been through what Jessica had, he would no doubt react the same if not worse.
It broke his heart to see the sadness lurking in Jessica’s eyes. Even with the determination she’d exhibited, she held tight to a certain amount of insecurity.
He watched her slowly twirl the stem of a rose between her fingers before stepping forward and gingerly placing it on Terry’s small coffin.
A lone tear slipped from her eye. “Fly with the angels, sweet Terry. If you happen to see my Jacob, tell him his mother loves him more than anything.”
Owen’s heart cracked. It took everything he had not to break down in tears next to her.
She suddenly looked up and locked gazes with him. “It’s time for me to let go now.”
The tears Owen tried so hard to fight, came spilling forth unbidden. He could only stare down at her, unable to find his voice.
She reached up and brushed away his tears with her thumbs. “Jacob would want us to continue—to honor him by living.”
Owen finally found his voice. “Yes, he would. Forgive me, Jess. Forgive me for not being there for you when you needed me the most.”
“You were always there for me, Owen. I’m the one who’s been absent for the past three and a half years.”
He threw his arms around her, pulling her close against his heart. “Ah, God, I love you.”
The Boy in the Window: A Psychological Thriller Page 16