True Deceit (Blindsided Book 1)

by A. J. Carella

  ***

  John Cassidy, the senior partner of the only law firm in town, was dressed formally in a dark suit and tie, and was seated behind the desk in the study while she, Jake and Carrie had taken chairs on the other side, facing him.

  The atmosphere was relaxed, if somber, as they all knew what the will would contain. Kat didn’t expect to receive anything, didn’t want anything. In fact, she was quite happy with what she had. And, with Jamie missing, it was expected that the entire estate would pass to Jake. None of them saw this reading as anything other than a formality.

  “How long is this going to take?” Carrie asked impatiently.

  Kat had to bite her tongue. She’d only just met Jake’s new wife, but she hadn’t taken to her. She seemed hard, calculating even, and she hadn’t shown any signs of grief at the loss of her in-laws. Surreptitiously glancing across at her now, Kat thought she looked excited, with not a trace of respect for the occasion on her features at all.

  Mentally chiding herself for being so quick to judge, Kat pushed her thoughts aside. She knew nothing about her. There must be something about her to love or Jake would never have married her. It clearly just wasn’t immediately obvious.

  “If we’re all ready, I’ll get started,” the lawyer said, ignoring Carrie’s question.

  The will was short and it didn’t take long for him to read it through to the end. It was not at all what they had expected and when he had finished, there was complete silence in the room, a stunned silence from everyone. Carrie was the first to react.

  “You’ve got to be shitting me!” she shouted. “They can’t do that!”

  “I assure you, madam, that the document is perfectly legal. I drew it up myself.”

  “Calm down, Carrie!” Jake hissed at her.

  “Calm down? Calm the hell down? Didn’t you hear what he just said?”

  “He’s right, Carrie, there’s no need for that.” Admittedly, the contents of the will had taken them all by surprise but she was totally overreacting.

  Rather than leave everything to Jake, as they’d been expecting, all assets were to be held in a trust, managed by Kat. It was to remain that way until Jamie was found, alive or dead. At that time, it would either pass to them both, if she was found alive, or the entire estate would pass to Jake. Until that time, though, Kat was to look after everything, including the business, and keep it intact.

  Turning to the lawyer, she smiled an apology for Carrie’s outburst. “Thank you for coming. I’ll see you out.” Leaving the room and closing the door on the sound of Carrie and Jake arguing, she walked him through the house to the front door. “So, what happens now?”

  “If you’d like to come to my office tomorrow, there are some documents I’ll need you to sign.” He slipped on his coat and opened the front door but didn’t immediately leave. “I knew you and your sister as little girls. My daughter was in the same class as she was. You probably don’t remember.”

  Kat shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. I don’t.”

  “They met up again after you’d already left town and became good friends.” He gave her a sad smile. “She knew that if anyone could find Jamie, you could. She was very proud of you.”

  The lump that formed in her throat made it impossible for her to speak and all she could do was watch as he left and got into his car, tears streaming down her face.

  Nineteen

  Two decades had passed since Kat had last seen him, but she knew that if she was going to do this, she was going to need his help. They’d been high school sweethearts, but she’d left town without even saying goodbye. She had no idea how he was going to react to seeing her now, and she was more nervous than she’d been about anything in years.

  The local police station was an old, two-story building on the main road through the town. It looked just as it did when she’d been in high school, down to the ‘E’ in ‘Police’ being at an odd angle. She was just about to walk up the steps and through the front door when a voice stopped her in her tracks.

  “So you’re back, then?”

  She turned around and there he was. Lounging against the side of his cruiser, hands in the pockets of his uniform pants.

  God, she’d forgotten the effect he had on her; just looking at him again was making her stomach tie itself in knots and she wasn’t entirely sure it was just because she was nervous. Time had been good to him and he obviously took care of himself. He could have passed for a man in his late twenties, not one approaching forty.

  “Yes, it was the funeral today.”

  He nodded, the frown on his face softening. “Of course. I’m truly sorry for your loss. They were good folks.”

  “Thank you. Yes, they were.” She waited, expecting him to say something, anything, about what had happened all those years ago, but he said nothing.

  “So what are you doing here?” he asked casually, nodding towards the police station.

  She was surprised. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but it wasn’t this, this casual conversation, as if they’d seen each other just last week. “I’m here about my niece, Jamie.”

  “Well, you’ll probably want to speak to the chief about that. I think he’s in his office. If you go in and speak to them at the desk, they’ll point you in the right direction.” He pushed himself off the cruiser and opened the door, preparing to get in. “It was good seeing you, Kat. Take care.”

  “Wait!” It came out as much more of a squeak than she’d intended.

  He turned back towards her, waiting for her to speak. “It was you I came to see, Finn. I need your help.” She took a deep breath. “You got time for a coffee?”

  It felt as if he was looking directly into her soul as he looked at her with his chocolate brown eyes, clearly weighing up his answer. With a curt nod, he agreed. “There’s a coffee shop across the street. I’ll meet you there in fifteen minutes I’ve got a couple of jobs to do first.” And without another word he got in the cruiser and drove off, leaving Kat standing there looking after him.

  Glad that she had some time to pull herself together, she went in search of the coffee shop. She knew exactly where he meant, it had been a coffee shop when she’d lived here and Brecon Point was the kind of place that didn’t change much.

  Her reaction at seeing him had knocked her off balance. After all these years she had expected awkwardness, maybe some uncomfortable questions, but she hadn’t expected the physical reaction she had felt.

  She’d always regretted just leaving him without any kind of explanation but every time she’d been tempted to get in touch, she’d reminded herself that it was best for everyone involved if she didn’t. Including him. She’d never meant to hurt him, but it would have hurt him far more if she’d stayed.

  It felt strange walking down Main Street after all this time. Everything was familiar, and yet changed at the same time. The hairdresser was still where it had always been next to the grocery store, but the record shop where they’d all bought the latest music craze was gone, replaced with a garage workshop.

  Finding the coffee shop exactly where it had always been, she went inside and took a booth at the back, ordering a coffee from the waitress who immediately appeared.

  When he walked through the door exactly fifteen minutes later, she’d managed to re-group and was much more in control. She watched as he saw her, ordered a coffee at the counter then made his way over, sliding into the booth opposite her before speaking.

  “So, you said you needed my help. What can I do for you?”

  Kat searched his face for any sign that he was finding this as awkward as she, was but there was nothing. It was completely expressionless. He could have been sitting across the table from anybody. Well, that suited her; she was here for his help, not a trip down memory lane.

  “Yes, I did.” She had intended to apologize, to try and explain, but it appeared there was no need. “I’ve got to find Jamie, one way or another, and I need your help to do it.”

  The waitress picked t
hat moment to come over with his coffee, cutting off his reply, and she was surprised at the stab of jealousy she felt when he winked at her as he said, “Thanks.”

  “Friend of yours?” she asked after she’d left, before she could stop the sarcastic remark slipping off her tongue.

  He raised his eyebrows, looking amused. “You do know that the entire police department has been looking for her since she disappeared, don’t you? We haven’t given up.”

  “I know, and I’m truly grateful for all the efforts that have been put in. It’s just that it’s become a bit more imperative that we find out once and for all what happened to her.” She went on to explain about the will. “So, you see why I need to find her.”

  “I’m still confused. What do you think you can do that we haven’t?”

  She sighed and, wrapping her hands around her cup, decided to just be honest. “I don’t know, I really don’t. But I do know I have to try. I was a lousy sister, and I’ve been a lousy aunt. I owe them this.”

  “Okay. I get that.” He nodded “But I still don’t know where I fit in.”

  “You have the contacts. I’ve been gone for twenty years and I don’t know people around here anymore. And you were here when she disappeared, and afterwards. You’ll be able to give me a lot more than I’ll get just looking at the paperwork, presuming the chief will even let me see it.”

  He was quiet for a long time, just sipping his coffee, before he finally looked up and met her eyes. “Okay, I’ll help. But just to be clear, I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing it because it’s the right thing to do and I’ve always thought there was something odd about the way she vanished.” He drained his cup. “I’ll go and clear it with the chief. I’ve been pushing to look at the case again so, I’m sure he’ll agree if only to shut me up. I’ll meet you back here tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. sharp. Don’t be late.” And without another word, he stood up and left, without looking back.

  She spent what was left of the afternoon at the lawyer’s office signing all the papers, effectively giving her control of the business and the family assets with immediate effect. She hadn’t anticipated this when she’d come back, and the responsibility weighed heavily on her as she got in her car to drive home.

  It was dusk when she finally turned the rental car onto the drive leading up to the house. It still felt strange, despite having been back a couple of days now, driving up to the house again. She been born here, had grown up here with her sister, and this was the last place that she’d ever seen her parents. And would now be the last place she’d ever seen her sister.

  After she’d left, her sister had told her that her parents had completely cut her out of their will so, when they’d died, the house and the business had passed to her, though the running of it was left to her husband. Kat had had no issue with that. This house, this town, held only bad memories for her and she’d wanted no part of it.

  As a trustee of the estate now though, she had a legal responsibility to look after it and the business until Jamie was found. The sooner you find her, the sooner you can pack up and get out of here, she thought to herself as she pulled her car to a stop outside the front door.

  Letting herself in, she could hear Jake and Carrie arguing in the living room through the closed door. Since she’d arrived, that’s all they’d done. They certainly didn’t seem to like each other very much for a couple that were only recently married, she thought to herself.

  Not sure she was feeling up to getting caught in the middle of an argument, she debated going straight upstairs to her room and leaving them to it, but she couldn’t. She had a feeling that Jake could probably use her support. As she went to open the living room door, it was flung open and Carrie stormed out, nearly knocking her over.

  Concerned, Kat poked her head around the door. “Everything okay?” Jake stood by the fire with his hands in his pockets, looking thoroughly miserable.

  “Yeah. She’s just a bit highly-strung.” He shrugged and looked at her apologetically.

  That’s not quite how I would describe her, she thought, but kept it to herself, instead saying, “How are you coping?”

  He sighed. “I’m okay, I guess. What hurts the most is that we didn’t find Jamie before they died.” He looked over at her, and Kat could see he was tormented. “You know that Dad and I never really got along, but even so I wouldn’t have wished this on anyone.”

  Going to him, she placed her hand on his arm. “I know that. And I’m so sorry I didn’t come sooner. I should have. I’ll never forgive myself for that.” She felt tears fill her eyes and then spill down her cheeks.

  Jake took a step towards her and pulled her to him in a bear hug and she allowed herself to cry. “You’re here now, that’s all that matters.”

  Reluctantly pulling away, she wiped her eyes. She reminded herself that she had a job to do. “Well, we can’t give up. We can still bring her home.” Turning, she walked to the couch and sat down, indicating that he should do the same. “I spoke to a friend of mine in town today, and he’s going to help me look.” She saw the doubtful expression on his face, but before he could say anything she held up her hand. “I know, I know, the police have already looked. But they might have missed something.”

  He still didn’t look convinced. “Aunt Kat, they spent months looking for her, I doubt you’ll be able to find her, much as I’d like to think you could.”

  Kat refused to consider failure as an option, so she wasn’t about to let Jake see that she had exactly the same doubts. Smiling brightly, she told him, “The difference between us and the police is that we’re much more motivated.” Reaching for a glass decanter and matching glasses that sat on the coffee table, she poured them both a drink. “So, tell me everything you can remember about that day, however unimportant you think it is.”

  He hated lying to Kat, but he couldn’t tell her everything. The police had never found out about Jamie’s visit to Carrie and that they’d had a fight and she’d left there very upset. They’d decided there was no need to tell them, it wasn’t relevant to her disappearance. He’d wanted to initially, but Carrie had convinced him that opening that particular door would have led to increased scrutiny and he couldn’t risk them finding out about Ted. It was yet another thing that just the two of them were aware of, and it had to stay that way.

  Recounting the events of the day now, though, brought it all back. When Jamie had first vanished, he’d thought that she’d simply run off for a few days, upset by what she’d found out. But when she’d failed to return, he hadn’t known what to think.

  As the days turned to weeks, and then months, and he saw what it was doing to his parents, he was ashamed. Ashamed of how badly he’d treated them. Watching their pain, and feeling his own, they’d developed a new closeness, one that had never been there before.

  Rather than fade with time, what he had done to Ted increasingly preyed on his mind and the knowledge that it was all due to his greed made him sick.

  Twenty

  Slamming the bedroom door behind her after storming out of the living room and going upstairs, Carrie threw herself on their bed. She was furious. She had worked so damned hard to get here and now it could all be snatched away from her! And Jake couldn’t understand what she was so upset about. He didn’t seem remotely bothered that he couldn’t claim his inheritance until his damned sister showed up. She tried to make herself breathe slowly while she stared at the ceiling, hoping it would help her calm down.

  His parents had taken a lot of convincing when he’d told them that they wanted to get married. They didn’t like her, but it was the fact that they wanted to go ahead even though Jamie was missing that they’d seemed to find so offensive.

  She’d wanted to get that ring on her finger as soon as she could, though, so she’d pushed Jake continuously, until he’d agreed that they would go ahead with or without his parents’ permission. What choice did he have? He knew that she could, and would, have told the police about his involvement in Ted’s dea
th if he didn’t. Luckily, the mere threat that they would go ahead anyway had been enough to get them to agree. So, six months after Jamie’s disappearance, they’d finally tied the knot.

  She had to admit, she’d expected to be in for a much longer wait before she saw the benefit of marrying him but his parents getting killed like that had been a stroke of luck. Jake was devastated, of course, and she was playing the part of the bereaved daughter-in-law, but secretly she was elated. At last, she was lady of the manor. People would have to look up to her now, show her the proper respect.

  But now everything was spoiled. It could be years before she got her hands on any money.

  They’d just had another argument about it. He’d changed since Jamie had gone. She’d thought he had more backbone, wanted the same things she did, but he was soft, kept whining about how much he missed his sister. It was all she could do to stop herself blurting out the truth, that his precious sister was gone for good. But she knew that even Jake wouldn’t let that slide, even though he’d end up in prison himself for what he had done to Ted.

  She’d known what she needed to do as soon as the will had been read. Jamie needed to be found. Dead or alive.

  Twenty-One

  Letting himself into his house on the outskirts of town, he slammed the front door harder than he should have, making a picture fall off the wall and smash on the floor. Cursing, he picked it up and carried it to the kitchen, dumping it in the kitchen sink. He was angry at himself. And her. How dare she just waltz back into town and then act as if nothing had happened? And more to the point, how the hell had he just let her?

  He’d known it was her standing outside the station the moment he’d spotted her. He hadn’t known whether she would come back for her sister’s funeral as she’d missed her own parents, but it had always been a possibility.

  She was still stunning, even after all these years. She’d always been slim and he could see that she’d kept her figure and she still kept her gorgeous, dark hair long, hanging half way down her back.