The anger he still felt towards her had surprised him. It had been years since she’d so unceremoniously walked out of his life and he’d thought that he’d forgiven her, if not forgotten. It had taken a bit of time, but he’d moved on and met someone else. They were long divorced now but he’d believed that that episode of his life had been firmly left in the past.
Sitting across from her in the coffee shop, he’d wanted to demand answers, but he had his pride so he’d kept quiet. Being close to her again was going to be hard but he’d committed to helping her now and he would be true to his word. Besides, what he’d told her had been true. He had always thought there was something odd about Jamie’s disappearance, coming so soon as it did after the murder of her fiancé.
The whole department had been involved in the search, but no trace of her had ever been found. Her abandoned car had been forensically examined, but it had revealed nothing.
Deciding that he needed to work off some of this frustration, he went upstairs and changed into a pair of dark blue overalls before heading out to the garage. As always, he got a thrill when he switched on the bright overhead lights that revealed his pride and joy: a sea green, 1967 Pontiac GTO.
He’d discovered it abandoned in a barn during a case a few years before. When he’d contacted the owner of the barn, he’d been happy to sell it to him for a few hundred dollars. When he’d bought it, it had been hardly more than a shell, but over the past few years he had been painstakingly restoring it to its former glory. He’d found that when he was working on it he was able to focus entirely and put all other thoughts from his mind. He needed that oblivion now so, after switching the radio on to the local country and western channel, he closed the door and got to work.
Twenty-Two
She’d pretended to be asleep that morning when Jake left, not at all in the mood to deal with him. Once she was sure he was gone, she’d jumped out of bed wanting to get an early start. She needed to dress appropriately for what she had planned so she threw on an old pair of blue jeans, a plain navy blue t-shirt, and some hiking boots.
Avoiding Kat, she headed downstairs and straight out the front door without even stopping for breakfast. There was a gas station on the way out of town, she would stop there and grab a coffee. Apart from anything else, the task ahead was likely to be quite gruesome and she thought it would probably be best tackled on an empty stomach.
She’d left her deep in the woods, in the middle of nowhere, so no one was likely to just stumble upon her bones. Even she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to remember exactly where. She’d better remember though, and quick; she had no intention of waiting any longer than she had to for what was rightfully hers.
After grabbing a coffee, it took her nearly an hour of driving around until she spotted a familiar dirt track. She followed it as far as she could in her car and then stopped when she could go no further.
Getting out, she went to the trunk and removed the roll of industrial garbage bags and thick gardening gloves she had gathered the night before and slammed the trunk shut. With a quick look around to make sure she was alone, she followed the track further into the forest.
She remembered that night as if it were yesterday. After finding Jamie by the side of the road near her broken down car, she’d offered her a lift. Despite the argument they’d just had, Jamie had known that if she didn’t accept she could have been stuck there for hours so, reluctantly, she’d gotten in.
She hadn’t been expecting Carrie to strike her with a blow to the head with the tire iron she kept under the driver’s seat. She’d still been conscious, so she’d hit her again and she’d gone still. It hadn’t been planned, so she’d had to drive for miles until she’d found the dirt track which had led to these woods.
Jamie had started to come around as she’d dragged her out of the car, so she’d had to hit her a few more times to make sure she wouldn’t wake up again, ever. It had been incredibly hard, backbreaking work dragging her through the forest by her arms until she’d found a spot where she’d been happy that no one would ever find her.
She’d never expected to have to come back here, but now she had no choice. If she wanted to get her hands on the money, Jamie’s body needed to be found and it wouldn’t be found out here. That’s what the bags were for. She planned on gathering up her bones and then moving them to somewhere where they would quickly be stumbled upon.
It took a while, but eventually she started getting her bearings and recognizing landmarks: the big stone shaped like a saucer, and the tree that looked like a fork. It had been dark when she’d left her here and she’d made a note of these things so she’d be able to make her way back to the car.
Finally she came to the place where she’d left her. She didn’t feel squeamish at all. After all this time, the only thing left would be bones. She was sure of that.
She’d been searching for a quarter of an hour before she started panicking. Where the hell was she? She should have found her by now. Even allowing for the passage of time and interference by wild animals, she should have found some remains.
Eyes glued to the ground, she kicked long-fallen leaves aside with her boots, stopping occasionally to get a closer look at something that looked promising, but turned out to be nothing. Expanding her search in ever widening circles, her actions became increasingly frantic when she still found no trace of Jamie. She didn’t stop until the sweat on her skin started to cool and she looked up through the tree canopy, and realizing that the sun was going down. Not wanting to get lost out here at night, she reluctantly headed back to her car.
***
Carrie’s mind was racing as she sat, catching her breath, trying not to let the panic overwhelm her. Jamie had been dead when she left her there, she was sure of it. And besides, if she’d still been alive she would have made her way home, and her ass would be in jail right now not here searching the woods. So, that left two explanations. One, she’d not been dead and had managed to somehow move away from where she’d left her and died somewhere else, or the animals had scattered her bones so thoroughly that none remained. Neither scenario was good news for her. How the hell was she going to get her hands on the money now?
Twenty-Three
Not again. Belle’s heart sank as she rounded the corner and saw the blue and red flashing lights. There were so many and they reflected in the puddles of water on the streets left after the earlier rain shower, making it appear that the whole street was awash with them. As she drew closer, she could see the yellow police tape cordoning off an alley between two buildings and the press clamouring as they tried to get closer, angry at being held back.
Seeing a small group of the regular girls standing to one side, she pulled her coat tight around her and hurried over.
“Another one?” She knew the answer before anyone spoke and her fears were confirmed.
“Jasmine.” It was Sue who spoke, one of the older ladies who had been working the streets for as long as anyone could remember.
“Oh, God, no! She was just a kid!” Belle had met her a couple of times. She couldn’t have been more than about seventeen. “Do they think it’s him again?”
“They haven’t said, but I found her, I saw what he did. It’s the same guy.”
The rest of the group murmured their agreement. Belle didn’t ask what he’d done; she didn’t need to. This was the eighth working girl to be murdered in the last four months, and always the same way. They were sexually assaulted, their throats slit, and then they were propped up, naked, against a wall. Just thinking about it now made her pull her coat tighter around her. They were all living in fear that they might be next.
A blinding, bright light suddenly hit her face and she had to hold up her arm to shield her eyes to see. It was one of the cameramen from the press, standing next to one of the female anchors from the local news station.
“Ladies, did you know the victim?” She didn’t bother waiting for an answer. “Do you feel safe being out here at night?” She shove
d her microphone towards them, waiting for an answer.
Ignoring it, Belle turned and walked away quickly. Blade had spent so long drumming it into her that she must avoid her picture being taken that now it was second nature. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to see her and to be arrested for murder. She’d seen enough; she was done for tonight and if Blade didn’t like it, well, it was just tough. Business would be quiet now anyway, most of the customers scared off by the police presence. She might as well make the most of it and get an early night.
Twenty-Four
Kat hadn’t slept very well, tossing and turning most of the night. She’d had vivid dreams in which Finn had featured quite heavily and not always fully clothed. She felt the heat fill her cheeks again as she remembered them.
Your sister is dead and your niece is missing and you’re having sexy dreams? She was chiding herself as his shadow fell across the table. Feeling as if she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t, she felt her cheeks get even brighter as she looked up and found Finn standing there. The smirk he gave her told her that he had noticed her discomfort and seemed to find it amusing.
“We meet again,” he drawled at her as he took a seat.
“Hardly surprising, since we agreed we’d meet here,” she snapped, cross with herself for letting him get to her.
“Yes, but you’re hardly known for doing what you agree to, are you?” he responded, reminding her again of their shared past.
Taking a deep breath, she ignored the comment and pulled a notebook and pencil out of her purse. “Okay, I was thinking last night that the best thing to do would probably be to go over things from the beginning. I wasn’t here so I don’t know what steps the locals took. That way, we can see if they missed anything or if there’s anything worth going over again.”
“Hold your horses. I haven’t had any breakfast yet and, if we’re going to do this, I’m not doing it on an empty stomach or in a public place.” He signaled to the waitress. “We’ll have something to eat and then I’ll take you over to the impound yard. We still have the car over there and I thought you might want to take a look.”
He was right, of course. There was no point going off half-cocked. It was probably best to get a picture of the crime scene in her mind before going into too much detail. “Okay, that makes sense.” Though for some reason, it pained her to admit he was right. “I’ll have what you’re having.”
She put the pad back in her purse and sat back, looking at him as he ordered. He hadn’t changed much. His face was still ruggedly handsome with the strong, square jaw that she remembered. There were a few more lines on his face than there had been then, but the same could be said of her. He was keeping his hair shorter, too, though it was still dark and thick.
“So what happened to college? I thought you were going to become a lawyer and lock up all the bad guys?” That had been part of the reason she had left, so that she didn’t destroy his dream. She’d been surprised when her sister had told her that he’d never left town.
“Things don’t always turn out the way you expect them to, do they?” He seemed to realize he spoken harshly and immediately apologized. “Look, I’m sorry, but you asked for my help and you’ve got it, but I’m not here to reminisce, okay?”
Hurt, Kat just nodded and concentrated on eating her food. He was right; she had no right to expect that they could be friends.
They finished their breakfast in silence before heading over to the impound lot. It was really not much more than a fenced in yard around the back of the police station and her niece’s car was the only occupant. She was surprised to see that it wasn’t being kept under cover and had been left out in the elements. “Why hasn’t it been preserved as a crime scene?”
“CSI went over every inch of it. There was nothing more they could do.”
She wasn’t at all happy with that. If they had missed anything, it was likely lost now. “We wouldn’t have done that in L.A.. It would have been kept preserved as evidence until the case was solved.”
“You’re not in L.A., though, are you? You’re in Hicksville,” he snapped as he turned and walked out of the lot.
Walking fast to catch up with him, she grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that to come out the way it did.” She took a deep breath. “I just need to find her. She and Jake are the only family I’ve got left.”
He nodded. “Come on, then. I’ll take you to where we found the car.”
She resolved to actually think about what she was saying before opening her mouth in the future and followed him to his car.
***
The location had been disappointing. It was in the middle of nowhere and there was absolutely nothing to see. It didn’t help that Finn had hardly said two words to her since they had left the diner. She was feeling quite down as they drove back towards town and she rested her head against the glass of the passenger window, watching the fields as they sped past. She had been sitting like that for a few miles and had given up on the idea of conversation when he did actually speak.
“My dad lost his job.”
She looked at him quizzically, confused by what he had said.
“You asked why I didn’t go to college. Well, Dad lost his job and we couldn’t afford the tuition and there was no chance of me getting a scholarship.” He kept his eyes on the road as he said this, not giving anything away.
“I’m so sorry. I know how much it meant to you.”
“You’d be surprised how little anything meant to me after you left,” he said, the bitterness plain in his voice.
She didn’t know how to respond. Part of her heart was flying to hear that he’d cared so much, but a bigger part was breaking to know that she’d done that to him.
“Finn…”
He didn’t let her finish. “Don’t. It’s in the past. I moved on, met someone else. It’s all history now.”
They didn’t speak again until he dropped her back at her car. “I think we’ve done enough for today. I’ve got some errands to run this afternoon so I’ll pick up the case files from the station and we can get together again tomorrow to go through them.”
“Shall we meet at the coffee shop again?”
“No, the files are confidential. We can’t go over them in public. Come to my place just after lunch.” He wrote his address down on a piece of paper and handed it to her through the window.
“Ok, see you then.”
***
With the rest of the afternoon free, Kat decided it was probably about time she visited the office. The business had been in their family for generations and she used to go to there sometimes with her mother when they were small to visit her father.
It was hard to think of her parents. When she’d left, the only way she’d been able to cope was to not think about them. If she did, her grief overwhelmed her. Because that’s what it had felt like, grief. They’d still been alive, but they’d made it clear that she was no longer their daughter. She had kept in touch with her sister without their knowledge and she knew that her mother had asked about her, but her father never spoke her name again.
The plant was about ten miles out of town and spread over several acres in several distinct buildings. The business used to exclusively supply parts for the automotive industry but with that industry’s general decline, it had expanded and now had several arms. Not only did they still supply car manufacturers, but now they supplied parts to the maritime industry and carried out defense contract work, some of it highly classified. It was the single biggest local employer, with most of the population of Brecon point either working there or having a family member who did.
Jake had been in charge since his father was killed and she had no intention of interfering with that. She’d have no idea where to start anyway, but she did need to familiarize herself with the day-to-day running if she was to take her new responsibilities seriously.
She spent the rest of the afternoon sifting through mountains of paperwor
k in the office space Jake had made available for her, close to his. She was pleased that he did not seem resentful at all of her presence; it could so easily have been a difficult situation.
By the time the sun went down, she was exhausted and her eyeballs hurt from too much reading. No arguments tonight! She was just too tired to get caught in the middle of another row between Jake and Carrie and resolved to go straight home, take a long hot bath, read a book and get an early night.
Twenty-Five
The morning was spent catching up on phone calls and paperwork. Her first call had been to her captain back in L.A., asking for a bit more time off. She’d worked incredibly hard to regain his trust after disappearing to London and hadn’t taken a day off until it had been forced on her. This meant that she had a lot of holiday time owed to her and he was happy for her to take as long as she needed, which was a relief. She didn’t want to have to be worrying about whether she had a job to go back to, as well as everything else.
The next call had been to Kyle and Tara. Kyle was her old partner, and it was for him that she’d dropped everything and jetted off to London two years ago. He’d gone to rescue Tara from the clutches of her boss, who’d used her as a prize in his underground poker games. She’d refused to let him go alone and they’d managed to track her down and bring her and her long-lost daughter home.
She’d promised them that she’d keep them up to date with what was happening, so she’d filled them in on the contents of the will. She hadn’t told them that she was planning on looking for Jamie herself as she knew full well that they’d be on the first plane down here to help and she didn’t want to drag them away from L.A. Besides, their P.I. company had taken off and they were far too busy to take the time away. They’d come anyway, she knew that, but she wasn’t prepared to put them in that position. They had a spare key to her place and they’d promised to go in periodically, just to check everything was all right.
True Deceit (Blindsided Book 1) Page 23