The Southern Comfort Prequel Trilogy Box Set

by Lisa Clark O'Neill

  “I called your name three times,” her friend said.

  “I guess I didn’t hear you.”

  Frowning, Katie sat her purse on the padded bench and then lowered herself beside Jillian. “Are you okay?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Your hands,” Katie breathed on a horrified exhale, causing Jillian to curl her fingers inward.

  “The blood isn’t mine.”

  “Well that’s a relief. Jillian, what happened?”

  Jillian turned her head. Katie had been… distant was perhaps the best descriptor to use, over the past few days. Jillian couldn’t say she blamed her. Her life had been turned upside down, almost as much as Jillian’s. It was her grandparents’ home – her home, really – that had been invaded and searched and virtually ransacked by the police. Katie who insisted on the new alarm system. Katie who sat up with Jillian to make sure she didn’t have a concussion. Katie who called Ainsley when she found out Jillian was in jail, involuntarily tripping and too frightened and confused at the time to demand her attorney.

  “I’m so sorry,” Jillian said.

  “For what?”

  “For being such a pain in your ass. For getting the house trashed. For endangering you. For screwing up Christmas. Pick one.”

  Obviously exasperated, Katie shook her head. “None of those things are your fault. And it’s not quite Christmas yet, so you can’t say you screwed it up.”

  “Close enough.”

  “Look,” Katie said “I know I’ve been a little quiet the past couple of days. But it’s not because I’m angry at you or plotting how to kick you out. It’s beyond silly, but if you want to know the truth, I was a little hurt. That you told Jesse about your brother. But you’d never mentioned one word to me.”

  “I told Jesse because he asked me directly. And because it seems to be a major development in his investigation.”

  “I told you it was silly.”

  “I’m sorry for not sharing with you. I don’t really have an excuse, except to say that I was in kind of an odd emotional place at the time. My aunt died, and my marriage – which you’d been opposed to, with good reason – was failing. You were looking around for properties to rent for your restaurant, and it seemed like everything was sort of falling into place for you and my world was falling apart. I retreated, I think. My relationship with Alexei was easy because there were no expectations, no history. No pressure. So I sort of kept it to myself.”

  Katie considered that, and then tucked a stray curl behind her ear and studied her own well-manicured fingers. “I don’t have to tell you that you’ve been like the sister I never had. And I guess I’ve gotten used to being basically the most important person in your life since your aunt died and you got divorced. It’s totally selfish of me, but I can see that there’s something perhaps equally important developing between you and Jesse, and it’s made me feel a little possessive.” She shrugged. “So I guess we’re both ridiculous.”

  “I thought you wanted me to be involved with Jesse.”

  “I do! That’s why it’s so ridiculous. Although I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting you to become quite so… involved tonight.” She arched her eyebrows.

  “Is it that obvious?”

  “You have beard burn on your neck.”

  Jillian lifted a hand to cover it, and then remembered the blood. She’d been able to clean off most of it, but some still remained around her nails. She let her hand fall back into her lap.

  “What happened?” Katie repeated softly.

  “I was frustrated with being kept in the dark,” Jillian said “considering it was my brother. So I waited until Brian fell asleep and then snuck out.”

  “Yeah, I got that part,” Katie said wryly. “The mistake you made was re-engaging the alarm as you left, because it gave the warning noise when I came in. Needless to say it woke Brian, who freaked out when he saw your note.”

  Jillian grimaced. “I don’t think he’s very happy with me. And I can’t exactly blame him.”

  “He was pretty steamed when he left to follow you out to Tybee.”

  “They think it was his car turning into the parking lot which frightened away the attacker. Brian circled around once, looking for my car, and after he found it he parked. His headlights were what illuminated the… blood.”

  “A man was stabbed,” Katie said. “I know that much.”

  “His throat was cut.”

  Katie winced.

  “But the person who attacked him was startled, probably by Brian’s headlights. So his hand slipped. I think one of the carotid arteries was probably cut, but not the other. There was still so much blood.”

  “You did CPR?” Katie nodded toward Jillian’s hands.

  “You know my aunt insisted that I learn essential first aid. Jesse and I took turns applying pressure to stop him from bleeding out. I don’t know how successful we were. He’s still in surgery.”

  “You tried,” Katie said. “That’s all anyone can ask.”

  “I feel like it’s my fault.”

  “What?” Katie exclaimed. “How could this be your fault?”

  “He was my brother. I know I didn’t actively cause any of this, but my decision to try to find Alexei, to get to know him, somehow led to what’s happening. The man,” Jillian said “the man who was attacked tonight. He was –is – a friend of Jesse’s. He’s an artist – I’ve seen his gallery on River Street. I don’t know why he was coming to see Jesse, or why someone wanted to kill him, but it hurt Jesse.” Jillian remembered the impotent fury on Jesse’s face. “And so now I feel even worse, because this seems to be personally affecting all of the people whom I… care about. I feel like I should go away somewhere or something. See if whoever is doing this will follow me and leave you guys alone.”

  “That is the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard.”

  Jillian and Katie both looked up to see Jesse silhouetted in the doorway.

  Jillian clenched her jaw. “It may sound dumb, but it’s how I feel. Your friend might die.”

  “My friend might die,” Jesse agreed, stepping further into the room and letting the door close behind him. “But that’s not on you. We don’t have enough evidence yet to know why he was attacked. If it’s for the reasons I suspect – namely the drugs – it could be on me, because I sought LeRoy out and questioned him. Or you could say it’s on LeRoy for living a lifestyle that put him in contact with the underbelly of Savannah. But actually? The only person this is really on is the one who wielded the knife. And if I hear you say anything about acting like human chum again, I will dump your ass in a safe house so fast your head won’t even have time to spin.”

  Beside her, Katie drew in a sharp breath. “Um, I think I’ll just… wait outside for a minute. I’m sure there’s a vending machine that sells coffee somewhere. Come find me when you’re ready to leave, Jillian.”

  Jillian barely noticed her friend picking up her purse and sliding down the pew. She was too busy glaring at Jesse.

  “If you keep treating me like a child,” she told him in a low tone “we’re going to have problems.”

  “If I was treating you like a child, I’d haul you over my knee and spank you. Don’t tempt me.”

  “What happened to acknowledging that I’m a mature woman capable of making my own decisions?”

  “When your decisions involve deliberately putting yourself in danger, I’m forced to question that capability. Dammit, Jillian. I know I haven’t given you a lot of reasons to inspire confidence, but I’m not going to let this asshole hurt you. Not again.”

  “What do you mean you haven’t inspired confidence?”

  Jesse stared at her for several moments, and then looked away. “He – and I use that term generically, because we don’t know if it’s the work of one person or one person commanding a group of people – got into your house. He killed your pet, for lack of a better term. He messed with your heirlooms. He drugged you. All while I was supposedly watching you. I suspect he had
something to do with the death of a cop I didn’t like and he almost succeeded in killing a man I do, essentially right under my nose.” He hesitated, and then met her gaze. “I don’t blame you for doubting me.”

  “Jesse,” Jillian pushed to her feet and moved toward him. “I don’t doubt you. That’s not at all what I meant.”

  She realized that much like her, Jesse was taking responsibility for things that in reality were not his fault. “You’re not the only investigator assigned to this case,” she reminded him.

  “I’m the lead.”

  “And you’re the one who figured out that this had something to do with Alexei. And that I’m not a secret drug-runner for the Russian mob, which is what the Savannah cops were determined to believe about me. If not for you rooting out that mint wrapper and having it tested, interviewing the bride’s mother to find out that no guest matching that man’s description had been invited to the wedding, finding another guest who’d seen him leaving, proving I didn’t make him up, Ainsley wouldn’t have had the ammunition to push for those charges against me to be dropped.”

  “You had the journal and the emails as leverage, and it helped that you cooperated without making us get a warrant.”

  “Not to mention the fact that Ainsley is a tough negotiator.”

  Jesse snorted. And then rubbed his hand over his face. “I’m sorry. For being high-handed.”

  “The fact that you can recognize that you were is encouraging. That you would apologize for it, even more so.”

  His gaze drifted to her mouth. “I have incentive to stay on your good side. And to that end,” he suddenly looked uncomfortable “I should probably mention that Ainsley and I used to, uh, date.”

  “You…” Jillian swallowed her surprise. “Really.”

  “About a year ago, for several months.”

  “Well, this is awkward.”

  “Tell me. But given what happened tonight, I don’t want you to hear it from anyone else, which you would have, probably sooner rather than later. We got off to a rocky start on the honesty front, so I don’t want to keep things from you if I can avoid it.”

  Jillian tried to figure out if she was comfortable with having Jesse’s ex as her attorney. And then recalled how utterly professional Ainsley had been thus far, not to mention damn effective. She didn’t seem to be the type to let her personal life interfere with her job. And it wasn’t like they were going to be forced to compare notes.

  Plus, she liked her. Maybe she liked her a little bit less than she had, but she liked her.

  “Well, you at least exhibit good taste. Not only is she gorgeous, but she’s intelligent and successful.”

  “I’m going to refrain from comment, because anything I say here is bound to be the wrong thing.”

  “Let’s just consider the matter dropped.”

  He looked at her funny.

  “What?”

  “You don’t want to rehash my previous love life? I thought women loved that stuff.”

  “Do you want to hear about my ex-husband?”

  “Point taken.” He held out his hand to her.

  Jillian moved the couple steps it took to bring herself flush against him. Rising onto her toes, she pressed her mouth to his.

  He wrapped her in his arms, kissed her back with an enthusiasm that bordered on ferocity. And then reluctantly pulled away.

  Watching her eyes, he ran a hand over her hair before stepping back. “I just talked to the surgeon. Right now, they’re putting LeRoy’s chances at about fifty/fifty.”

  “That’s better than I expected, to be honest. He lost so much blood.”

  “Thank you,” Jesse said. “For helping.”

  “I certainly wasn’t going to stand there and wring my hands while the man bled to death. Have you found out anything? About… who might have done this?”

  “Not anything I can say. I know you hate being kept in the dark.”

  “It’s not your fault. You’re doing your job.” She crossed her arms. “Are you going to be in trouble? For me… being there tonight? Detective Goode gave me the fish eye when I said that I’d come over to see if there were any new developments regarding my brother. He kept looking at the closed door to the stateroom as if he had x-ray vision and was trying to find evidence that we’d been intimate.”

  “You let me worry about that.”

  “But it’s what I feared would happen. Yet I came over anyway.”

  “Would you stop trying to take the rap for everything? I’m the one who asked you to stay.”

  “But –”

  “Don’t make me spank you after all. Actually, on second thought…”

  He waggled his eyebrows and Jillian smiled a little at his attempt to lighten the mood. Then she succumbed to a huge yawn.

  “You should get some sleep,” he told her.

  “Am I free to go now? Or do the detectives have any more questions?”

  “If there’s follow-up it can wait until tomorrow. Let’s go find Katie. Brian will follow the two of you back.”

  Jillian sighed. “Brian’s going to kill me.”

  “He’s under strict instructions not to. And look at it this way: if you hadn’t snuck out and come to see me, he wouldn’t have followed you, and his arrival wouldn’t have startled the attacker and LeRoy probably wouldn’t have had even a fifty/fifty chance. So you did a good deed.”

  She gave him a look. “You’re just saying that because we had sex. Which I probably shouldn’t be mentioning in the chapel.”

  “Sure you should, considering it was really excellent sex. If that’s not a gift from some higher power, I don’t know what is.”

  Jesse’s cell phone started to ring.

  “I have to take this,” he said after checking the screen.

  “Go ahead. I’ll be out in just a minute. I have to get my purse.”

  Jesse was already involved in the conversation as he walked to the door. He opened it to a commotion – it looked like a couple nurses were trying to corral a disoriented and disorderly patient – so Jesse gave a head tilt to indicate that he’d be down the hall. Jillian nodded, and then walked back toward the pew to get her handbag. As she bent over, she heard the door once again open behind her.

  “That was quick,” she said, standing up, and then she glanced over her shoulder.

  Shock rendered her incapable of screaming.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  THE cafeteria was closed for the night and just down the hall from the chapel, which made it a good place to have an impromptu meeting.

  “LeRoy is out of surgery,” Jesse said to Detectives Portman and Goode. “Agent Bristol is in the process of reviewing the marina’s surveillance footage.” The cameras were limited mostly to the area around the office, though, so Jesse didn’t hold out much hope.

  “Does the doc have any idea how long it might be before we can interview him?”

  “Assuming he regains consciousness at all,” Jesse said with a bitter edge of regret “she expects him to be critical for at least the next twenty-four hours.”

  “Great,” Portman said, while her partner eyed Jesse.

  “You said you knew this LeRoy was an addict?”

  “No, I said that a number of years ago I bumped into LeRoy at a party held by a mutual acquaintance. He extoled to me the mind-opening virtues of hallucinogens. Acting on the possibility that he still dabbled, I visited his gallery. He insisted he knew nothing. I told him that if he changed his mind, he could find me at the marina.”

  “So you don’t know for certain that he was visiting you because he had information vital to the investigation. He could have just been stopping by to see an old… friend.”

  Jesse ignored Goode’s thinly veiled innuendo. “Could have,” he agreed instead. “In fact, he could have been simply out for an evening stroll in the delightful December rain. But the fact that he’s lying in a hospital bed fighting for his life after having his throat slit as he approached my boat sort of indicates to me that the
first possibility is more logical.”

  “There was no evidence that the perp hid on any of the nearby boats,” Portman interjected, trying to steer the conversation back on track. “And we talked to the other residents at the marina. No one saw or heard anything.”

  “I didn’t expect they would have. There aren’t that many of us who live there, especially at this time of year, and the ones who do aren’t that close by. I barely heard anything, and I was right there.” Jesse considered that. “The perp had to have slid into the water. I would have heard his footsteps on the dock if he’d run away.”

  “How come you didn’t hear his footsteps approaching?” Goode asked. “Or your friend LeRoy’s, for that matter.”

  Because he’d been busy having mind-blowing sex at the time. A fact which made him feel guilty, but he still wasn’t going to share that with the detectives. He wasn’t about to give anyone a reason to lodge a formal complaint and risk being removed from the case. Especially not now. Jesse did try to abide by a staunch code of ethics, but he’d also been known to bend the rules as long as it didn’t compromise an investigation. Jillian was no longer an official suspect, so to his mind their private relationship was none of anyone’s business.

  “I was talking to Ms. Montgomery at the time.”

  “Talking.”

  “That’s right. She wanted to discuss the information pertaining to her brother.”

  “Given the circumstances, I’m surprised her attorney lets her talk to you without her presence. But wait.” He snapped his fingers. “She’s an old girlfriend of yours, isn’t she.”

  “Are you trying to imply that my former relationship with the defense counsel has had a negative impact on this investigation?”

  “Not really. Just find it interesting, is all. You being so closely acquainted with so many of the people involved in this case.”

  Jesse felt his hackles rise, but he refused to take the bait. Not when the hook was so clearly dangling there alongside it.

  “It’s a small world,” he said to Goode, and then suggested that he and Portman talk to LeRoy’s live-in lover, who was currently in the waiting room outside the ICU. “He was overwrought when I spoke with him earlier. Maybe you can get a more coherent statement from him.”