“Police?” He frowned when they identified themselves. “Is this about Raphael?”
“Mr. Deane, we’d like to talk to your father. Is he here?”
Samuel shrugged. “He is, but he won’t be happy. I thought we cleared everything up already.”
Jordan wondered if anyone actually lived in this building. It looked like there were offices rather than living spaces, and for a compound that housed as many people as it did, it was suspiciously quiet around here.
“I’m sorry about that. These are just routine follow-up questions.”
“Follow me.” Samuel led them through a maze of corridors, given them a first impression of how big this building actually was. They arrived in a sitting area on the first floor, a den-style room with lots of dark furniture and hunting trophies mounted on the wall.
“Charming,” Jordan remarked after he had instructed them to wait, and gone to get Daniel.
“I’m relieved to know you’re kidding.”
“Ladies.” They turned to see Daniel Deane standing in the doorway. “This is unfortunate. As you can imagine, we’re still grieving over the tragedy that has fallen upon our family.”
“Mr. Deane, thank you for seeing us,” Jordan said. “We won’t be long.”
“I hope so. Our lives are humble, but busy.”
Yeah, right. Judging from the amount of land and real estate the brothers owned, humble was not the appropriate term. She kept her voice level and polite anyway.
“As we’ve told your son, those are routine follow-up questions. We are almost ready to close this case.”
“Raphael did something unspeakable. What more questions could you possibly have? If you could tell us why, we’d be very grateful, because our family has struggled with this.”
“I’m aware, and I’m sorry for that. Did Raphael ever bring Jennifer here? We were told they met in Iowa, and lived with your brother Jeremiah for a while, but she was actually from here. She was supposed to come home for her aunt’s funeral.”
He shook his head. “I can’t imagine what that has to do with your case, Detective. Raphael was…a troubled young man. I had hoped he’d come to his senses, but instead he was starting to severe the ties to the family. If one of us brings in a partner, we want to be sure they are accustomed and appreciative of the lives we live. Jennifer was not. We would have sent her away.”
“Yet, when she was found, she was wearing the customary clothing for women in your community. Do you think Raphael had access to that, or knew someone who could get it for him?”
“There is no way anyone of us would desecrate them in such a despicable act, so the answer is no. You might not approve of the way we live, Detective, but we’re not murderers. The man who committed this crime is not my son anymore. He’s a stranger.”
“Is that why you never sent him one of your lawyers?” Bethany asked, and for a split-second, they could see the flash of anger on the man’s face.
“Not for this. Unfortunately, we need to have them, because the outside world is slow and resistant to understand the good that we do for so many people…but Raphael is guilty. He has confessed to murdering that young woman. He has to face the consequences. If you excuse me now, I have work to do as I’m sure you have, too.”
“Mr. Deane, thank you for talking to us.”
“It’s no problem. Any way we can help.”
Even though it had been a fairly polite conversation, Jordan couldn’t help feeling relieved once they were back at their respective cars. She might be exaggerating, but the atmosphere in the house seemed heavy, the Deanes’ friendliness a thin disguise. If only her instincts had always been so precise…
Obviously, almost all the men here, if not all, were armed. In this concentration, they probably had enough weapons for a small army. She began to understand what Bethany had meant by saying their presence was low-key.
“Creepy,” she remarked. “He wasn’t like that in the first interview.”
“It’s his turf and his people. That makes all the difference. He knows we could never get a search warrant for any of the compounds as it stands now.”
“That, and he doesn’t seem to give a damn about what happens to Raphael.”
“He really doesn’t. They have their scapegoat, live goes on. Now we just have to convince Raphael that this is the way it is.”
“There’s no need for Ellie to deliver the bad news to him,” Jordan mused, earning an amused glance from Bethany.
“Are we really going to discuss this?”
Jordan sighed. “I guess not. As long as this is on our turf…”
“You have my word. Strickland has been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. I don’t think she’d appreciate having it taken away by a local cop.”
Jordan shook her head, barely suppressing a smile. With Bethany, it was sometimes hard to tell when she meant to make a compliment or an insult. They could work reasonably well together—they should have never been anything else.
Of course, everything was different with Ellie. She’d have to talk to her sometime soon—and let her make her own decisions. Armed with many good intentions, Jordan was ready for the next part of the day, even though it wouldn’t be a pleasant one.
Chapter Four
Jennifer Beaumont’s mother was equally as unhappy as Daniel Deane had been to see them. Bethany had joined her after McCarty and Marshall left for the department.
“I thought you had him. What do you think I can help you with?”
“I hoped we could take another look at Jennifer’s room,” Jordan said. In this house, the atmosphere was heavy too, but for a completely different reason. Mrs. Beaumont had hoped for her daughter to be here for her sister-in-law’s funeral—instead, she had to organize another funeral.
“Why? She hasn’t lived here in some time. Why are you not taking the place of those people in Iowa apart? You come to me for questions, but I had to read it in the newspaper that Jennifer might have joined some sort of cult.”
“Whether she actually joined the group or not is still subject to speculation,” Jordan explained. “She lived with them for a while, and yes, members have been questioned.”
“What are you trying to find here?”
“She sent you the bracelet, her grandmother’s. Was there any other sort of communication that raised red flags with you?”
Jordan was well aware that she was dodging the question. She wasn’t entirely clear on what she was trying to find. The book?
It couldn’t be that easy, but maybe they could find any hints that tied Jennifer to the Prophets outside her connection with Raphael—that could mean she had intentionally sought them out to expose them, and it would give them a motive. She might have gone with Iowa rather than the local group in order not to raise suspicion. If Jennifer had researched the Prophets of Better Days and approached Raphael with the intent to gather information, there had to be clues somewhere. She had been careful not to leave traces on electronic devices.
“Not that I can think of. Go, take a look if you must, but you know, cops have already been over things in her bedroom.”
“Thank you.”
“I put a great deal of trust in your hunches,” Bethany said when they were standing in Jennifer’s old room, “ but what are you trying to find? Unless somebody screwed up the search.”
“Think about it. At the time, nobody knew about the book. We knew that Jennifer had been in Iowa for the last few months, so everyone was looking for clues there, and trying to trace her steps after the flight. If she had been planning this project for a long time, I bet there is a clue somewhere—something that brings us closer to a motive for the Prophets.”
“Okay. Where are we looking?”
“I don’t know,” Jordan said, walking around the girl’s room, studying the bookshelves. High school textbooks, novels, nothing that would have caught anyone’s attention.
She opened each drawer of the wooden desk, reached inside to see if anything was taped underneath…no such
luck.
“I think you were right when you said it would be too easy,” Bethany muttered, but she turned to look at another shelf with various knickknack, opened a make-up case.
They looked behind the bed and under, in the wardrobe, shoe boxes, but finally Jordan had to admit that she’d been wrong.
She was about to apologize to Mrs. Beaumont, when the woman in question appeared behind her.
“Detective, I don’t know if that’s important, but the necklace came in a box…at the time, no one asked me about it because it was months before she…” She swallowed hard. “Before Jennifer died.” She handed the small leather-bound jewelry box to Jordan. “Jennifer gave me no explanation as to why she was sending it back, but I always thought that the box wasn’t just for protection, but that she meant to tell me she was sorry somehow. I don’t know what I’m saying. Maybe it’s nothing. I kept it in any case.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Beaumont. We’ll look into that.”
Jordan carefully put the box into an evidence bag. “Thank you so much for your time. And I promise you, we’ll let you know if there’s anything new.”
Bethany drove on the way back, while Jordan regarded the box from all angles.
“What are you thinking? Prints? False bottom?”
“Hopefully, all of the above. Jennifer was resourceful if she managed to do her research, get into the compound and get out, at least for long enough to hide her book somewhere. It’s kind of what you are trying to pull off with Strickland.”
“Yeah, and something no one has ever done before,” Bethany said somberly. “Don’t tell anyone I said that, but I really hope we’re doing the right thing here. I believe she’s ready, but that doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous.”
“At least she knows what she’s in for.” A moment later, Jordan wasn’t too proud of all the implications of her words. In order to stop criminals, they took risks. All of them.
“Yes, she does,” Bethany affirmed, not taking the bait. “Let’s see if we can get any prints off this, and then take it apart. If that doesn’t do anything, Ellie can pay another visit to Raphael tomorrow.”
Jordan checked the time on her cell phone, realizing she had missed a call from Ellie.
The day had gotten away from her. She wasn’t too happy to have spent most of it with her ex, but on the bright side, they were managing polite interaction. It was something.
* * * *
At the end of the day, Ellie was relieved to escape the office and tons of dusty files and walk outside into the sunshine. She didn’t mind the work, thought in fact it was fascinating as infuriating to learn about these men and their delusions of grandeur they had translated into a business…but she’d started to feel a little caged.
She might also feel a bit jealous of Lilah who would go all the way, inside. Ellie knew she had no reason for those sentiments—after all, she was following her own career. At least, up to the point where Jordan’s protective instincts kicked in. No, that wasn’t fair either. They had both been through enough to be cautious for themselves, and with each other.
All she wanted was to lay the day to rest and maybe have a drink. She called Jordan, but got no answer. Next, to decide where to go…After the tragic end of what used to be everyone’s favorite hangout, the Code 7, many of her colleagues had regrouped and chosen the Night Shift, another bar not far from the precinct, to meet after work. Then again, Bethany might be there, and Valerie Esposito as well.
“Hey. You’re waiting for Jordan?” She turned to Kate who had come up behind her.
“Yes…no…I’m not sure. She hasn’t called me back, so I guess I won’t see her tonight.”
Kate waited patiently until Ellie had sorted out her thoughts and decided what she wanted to say.
“No trouble. We’ve just been very busy today. Would you like a drink?”
Kate laughed. “I thought you’d never ask. Night Shift?”
“I thought we could go to the D & T. It’s a couple of blocks farther, but I think their happy hour is still on.”
“Happy Hour sounds great to me. I’m in.”
They walked in silence for a few minutes while Ellie contemplated that she had very little reason to complain. Kate had invested a lot when this was still a missing persons case—now they had gone from a brutal murder to a conspiracy, and probably many more stories.
“What were those people like in real life?” she asked.
Kate shrugged. “Surprisingly polite, though they made sure we knew they all had guns. We only saw men the whole time. There’s something creepy about them for sure.”
“I don’t think I ever said that, but I’m really sorry about Jennifer.”
“Yeah, I know. Thank you. We were all hoping to find her alive, but that’s not how it always works out.” She let out a frustrated sigh. “Sometimes I feel like we are hardly making a difference, or only after the fact, trying to patch things up.”
Ellie had felt that way before, but she had also promised herself to reach beyond her own frustration, anger and fear.
“We have a chance to bring them all down. That will make a difference to many,” she said.
“Let’s hope. So what’s new with you? You spent all day with the agent?”
They had reached the front door of the D&T and walked inside.
“She’s cool,” Ellie admitted. “Very ambitious.”
“Like someone I know.”
“I hope you mean that in a nice way.”
“How else would I mean it? Come on, I know you have plans. I’m glad you’re going for it. Detective Harding. It has a nice ring to it.”
That, Ellie couldn’t deny. “I agree. Let’s drink to that.”
Checking her cell phone, she saw that Jordan had texted her. Sorry I couldn’t make it. See you tomorrow night. All right then. They had made big steps, even lived together for a while, taken a vacation together—one day apart wasn’t a big deal, even if Jordan spent that day working with Bethany.
* * * *
No problem, have a good night, Ellie had sent with a heart emoji. Jordan was still sitting at her desk, fairly annoyed with herself as she stared at the parts of the leather-bound box. There had been prints, but so far, nothing conclusive. No hidden compartments. Nothing.
She believed that Jennifer Beaumont had chosen her steps carefully—if the tell-all book existed as Raphael Deane claimed, she had to have known they were dangerous. She would hide it in a safe place. Just like the mother, Jordan was sure that sending the bracelet was of relevance, but was it really connected to the book? Excitement had gotten the better of her, and she’d imagined she’d find a key or a note getting them closer to where those writings might be.
Bethany was right—they needed this, but they needed much more than that to prove that the Prophets were implicated in Jennifer Beaumont’s murder.
They needed Lilah to succeed.
“Still trying to solve the puzzle?” Derek said when he stopped by her desk.
Jordan answered with a frustrated shrug. “I’m beginning to think I got it all wrong. Why couldn’t she just hide the key to a safe deposit box in there?”
“Too easy,” he said good-naturedly.
“Yeah, I heard that one before.”
“Would you like to come over for a beer?”
Since Derek was dating Kate, and Ellie was living with Kate, they spent a lot more time together off duty than before.
“Thanks, but not tonight. I’m just going to head home.”
“All right. See you tomorrow.”
The half hour drive to her neighborhood went a long way to clear her mind. While it might be unpractical in the morning to live that far away from her job, she benefitted from the distance once the workday was over. Then again, she had spent most nights of the past month at Ellie’s, and on the weekends, Ellie usually stayed over…This was a situation still in limbo, but it would be tough to change.
Jordan prepared a frozen meal in the microwave and opened the last beer in
the fridge, carrying all of it to the small deck behind the house. Would they ever solve this? She liked living here, the peace and quiet after a day in the city. She hardly ever heard or saw the neighbors, except when they were coincidentally getting the mail or taking out the garbage at the same time.
She lived here regardless of the fact that her realtor had turned out to be a serial killer who had been targeting her…In Jordan’s opinion, this was part of her revenge, having a home and a life with the woman she loved, regardless. Only Ellie had no intention of moving here.
Perhaps they could work out a compromise, eventually find something that was closer to the city center but still offered some peace and quiet. Maybe at some point, keeping this house would no longer serve her, just like the anger towards her birthparents had lost some of its function.
She had met with Kathryn and heard her explanations once. It hadn’t dramatically changed their relationship or Jordan’s childhood memories. If she was going to see her another time, it wasn’t because there was any way to justify Kathryn and Jim’s actions—but she wanted to live in the present. In moving forward, with her life in general and Ellie in particular, she had to clear up everything that had stood in her way for so long, first.
Jordan considered calling Ellie again, then decided it was too late. She scrolled through her address book and found Kathryn’s number.
“Hey. I was wondering if you’d like to meet for lunch this Friday,”she typed, hesitating for the span of a few seconds, before she sent it. A couple of minutes later, she felt foolish. Then the phone rang.
“Hi.”
“Hello, Jordan.”
There was a moment of silence, surprise maybe, whatever the reason for the awkward pause, Jordan already regretted approaching her. What had she expected?
“I would love to see you,” Kathryn said. “Thank you.”
“Okay, great. There’s a diner a block from the precinct, Suzie’s? I’ll meet you there.” She ended the call before either of them had a chance to change their mind.
* * * *
The next morning, Ellie was called straight to the conference room. Jordan was already there, with Bethany and Lilah Strickland.
Initiations (Carpenter/Harding Book 5) Page 4