Exposed (A Jenny Watkins Mystery Book 4)

by Becky Durfee

  “It was a guy beating what I assume was his wife. Of course I was the wife, so it appeared that he was attacking me.”

  “Did you feel the pain of it?”

  “Well, he didn’t actually hit me. He just slammed me against the wall by my neck.”

  “Oh, is that all?” Zack teased as he pulled Jenny in just a little bit closer.

  “To answer your question, I didn’t feel any pain from it, but I did experience her fear and despair.” Jenny shuddered. “And that was enough.”

  Rubbing his hand up and down Jenny’s arm, Zack asked for the details. Once again this first vision—if that’s what it was—didn’t provide enough information for them to begin an investigation. Jenny did decide, however, to paint a picture of the man she saw; that strategy had paid off for her in the past, and it might again.

  Switching gears, Zack posed, “So what time does Rod’s flight come in?”

  “Dinner time. Six-fifteen, I think? You’re still coming with me to the airport, right?”

  “Of course. I wouldn’t miss it,” Zack replied.

  “Thanks. I am not at all sure what to expect…it’s kind of weird to meet your father for the first time at age twenty-seven, so I’m glad you’ll be there for support.”

  “Well, I have to admit I’m very curious.”

  Jenny had to admit she was, too. She had seen a picture of Rod and knew she had resembled him in certain ways, most notably her eyes. She had also inherited both his artistic and psychic abilities, but did she also have his mannerisms? His sense of humor? “Yes,” she said with a sigh. “This should be interesting, to say the least.”

  In one motion Zack flipped over so he was lying on top of Jenny, looking at her face-to-face. He kissed the tip of her nose and added, “Well, he can’t be all bad. He made you, didn’t he?”

  Jenny couldn’t help but laugh. “Flattery will get you nowhere.”

  “Actually, I’m just trying to get lucky.” He kissed her neck a few times. “Is it working?”

  Jenny wrapped her arms around Zack, enjoying the moment, wondering if things were going to change. She didn’t want things to change. For the first time in her life she was truly happy right where she was, and now all of that stood to be jeopardized. Casting those thoughts out of her head, she returned Zack’s kisses and savored the carefree nature of their relationship—for what hopefully wasn’t the final time.

  Having just eaten a late lunch, Jenny succumbed to a series of yawns as she put the finishing touches on her painting. She stepped back to take a look at it in its entirety, nodding her approval, noting how well she’d been able to capture the likeness of the horrible man from her vision. While she did manage to impress herself, the fact that she hadn’t gotten any decent sleep since four in the morning was definitely taking its toll at that moment. Deciding to put her painting supplies away later, she temporarily put everything—painting, easel and all—in the second guest bedroom and closed the door behind her.

  More yawns crept up on her as she turned down her bed and crawled in. Very few joys in life rivaled the feel of her bed right before a much-needed nap. She smiled as she shifted her position, nestling her head into the pillow.

  She couldn’t breathe. Bubbles surrounded her, and the unmistakable sound of sloshing water filled her ears. She was desperate for air, but hands pressing down on her shoulders made it impossible for her to reach the surface. Her lungs were on fire as panic set in. Was he going to have mercy? Or was this it? She couldn’t hold her breath much longer. If he didn’t release his grip soon, it would be all over.

  She wrapped her hands around her attacker’s wrists, trying to pry them off, but to no avail. She felt her consciousness start to fade. She was losing the battle. If he was going to be merciful, it needed to happen soon. But it looked like there would be no compassion—she’d pushed it too far this time.

  Sadly, this was it.

  Jenny gasped as she sat up in bed, panting heavily to make up for the breaths her victim couldn’t take. “Okay, so this was definitely not a dream,” she whispered, looking around. “Somebody killed this woman.”

  Chapter 3

  Jenny looked at the arrival schedule for the tenth time in as many minutes. “It still says on time,” she said nervously to Zack. “Shouldn’t he be here by now?”

  Just as the words came out of Jenny’s mouth, people began to appear through the gate. Zack put his arm around her shoulder as she sucked in a breath, surveying each face to see if it belonged to Rod. Eventually a lone man rounded the corner, scanning the crowd before his eyes settled down on Jenny.

  He approached and declared with a big smile, “You must be Jenny.”

  “And you must be Rod.” She embraced him, albeit tentatively, and immediately picked up on the fact that he was indeed psychic. Perhaps her friend Susan had been correct when she had said psychics could recognize each other’s abilities through contact.

  Releasing the embrace, he looked her up and down, obviously in awe that he’d had a hand in creating her. “My goodness. Look at you.”

  With an awkward blush, Jenny glanced at her feet. “Rod, this is my boyfriend, Zack.” She was more than happy to direct the attention off of herself.

  Zack stuck out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

  “Sir,” Rod said with a chuckle. “I haven’t been called sir in a long time.” He straightened his posture and feigned formality. “The pleasure’s all mine, young man.”

  “Well, I guess we should head to baggage claim,” Jenny said, pointing her finger. “It’s this way.”

  The three of them proceeded awkwardly through the airport, making small talk about Rod’s flight and how long it took him to make the cross-country journey. After picking up his bags, they headed to Jenny’s car and pulled out of the parking lot.

  Rod, sitting in the passenger seat, turned to Jenny and said, “I see your mother in you, you know. I haven’t seen her in decades, but I do remember her, and you definitely are her daughter. You have her gentle features.”

  Jenny glanced at this man sitting beside her, recognizing that she could see herself in him, too. They had the same eyes and similar jaw lines. She couldn’t help but think how much that resemblance must have broken the heart of the man who had raised her as his own.

  She smiled nonetheless and graciously said, “Thank you. I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “That’s how it was intended. And how is your mother these days?” Rod asked.

  Jenny shrugged. “Okay, I guess. My father’s death has been hard on her.” Jenny stifled her inner cringe. She felt bad every time she referred to Frank Mongillo as her father when speaking to Rod. Undeterred, she continued. “I think she’s having a tough time living in the house they shared for nearly forty years. Every corner of that house holds a different memory of him, you know?”

  “I’m sure,” Rod replied. “I can’t imagine how difficult that is. I’ve lost loved ones in the past, but never anyone I’ve lived with. That void has to be unbearable.”

  “Agreed.” Suddenly Jenny became overcome with a strange feeling that was growing increasingly familiar to her. While her GPS was telling her she needed to head northbound on the highway, her gut was telling her to head south. “I’m sorry, Rod,” she explained, shutting off her GPS. “I know you’ve had a long trip, but it’s about to get longer.”

  Rod looked curiously at Jenny, who proceeded to enter the trance-like state she needed to maintain in order to be led to her destination. “She’s being pulled by a spirit,” Zack explained quietly from the back seat; he’d seen it enough times to recognize it at this point. “We moved into our house a few days ago, and it seems another spirit has found her there.”

  Rod looked at Jenny with awe. “Just like your grandmother,” he whispered with a shake of his head. “She’ll be delighted.”

  Zack and Jenny didn’t have to tell Rod to be quiet. He seemed to already know, most likely the result of having seen his mother do the very s
ame thing. The three rode in silence for about forty five minutes until Jenny pulled up alongside the Benning State Penitentiary. She stopped the car on the side of the road, put it in park and declared, “We’re here.”

  “A jail?” Zack asked. “You’ve been led to a jail?”

  “Apparently,” she replied.

  “Any idea why?” Rod posed.

  Jenny shook her head. “I wish I knew.”

  “So what’s this latest spirit telling you?”

  Jenny recounted the story of both the near-choking and the drowning.

  “Do you think the man who was responsible for this now lives here?” Rod surmised.

  “I hope so,” Jenny said. “But if that’s the case, I’m not sure why she’d feel the need to tell me her story. I would think if he was convicted of her murder, that would put her soul at ease and she’d be able to cross over.”

  Silence took over. Despite their best efforts, none of them could make sense of what had just happened.

  “Well,” Jenny began, putting her car back in drive. “That was a nice little detour. Are you all ready to get back to the homestead? Quite honestly this is closer to a jail than I’d care to be.”

  “You and me both,” Rod said with a snort.

  Jenny looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “That sounds like it has a story attached to it.” She turned her car around and headed back in the direction they came.

  “I’m not sure it’s a story I should share with my daughter.”

  “I think you’re committed, now,” Jenny laughed. “Spill it.”

  “It wasn’t that bad, really,” Rod began. “It goes back to my younger days, when I was a free spirit. I spent a good deal of time hiking, living out of a tent that I carried on my back. For the most part I was fine with that, but on some of the colder nights I liked to…borrow…some vacation homes for a night.”

  Jenny playfully shook her head as her GPS squawked out directions. “How do you borrow a vacation home?”

  Rod let out a giggle. “Well, you go in, use the shower, and sleep in the bed. Then you leave in the morning, making sure everything looks the same as when you arrived. No harm done.” Rod shrugged exaggeratedly. “It’s a victimless crime, really.”

  Zack nudged Jenny from the back seat. “He was like Goldilocks.”

  Jenny squinted and blinked repeatedly, choosing to ignore the fairy tale reference, simply because she had no idea how to respond to it. “But how did you get in?”

  “I had my ways.”

  “How did you get caught?” Zack posed. “That’s the better question.”

  “Well, one time I let myself into a vacation home on a night where it had started to snow. I had no idea that people were in there. I picked the lock…” he started to laugh. “And I just walked right in. The people were asleep in their bedroom, so I still had no idea I wasn’t alone. I helped myself to a shower in the main bathroom, and when I came out they were standing with a gun pointed at me.”

  Jenny gasped. “They had a gun?”

  “Oh, they most certainly did. They’d called the police and everything. I stood there at gunpoint until the cops showed up, and then I ended up spending the night in jail.”

  “At least you got that warm bed you were looking for,” Zack noted.

  “That I did,” Rod replied with a smile. “But it was not a very pleasant place to be.”

  “So did you stop breaking into people’s houses after that?” Jenny asked.

  “Sadly, no,” Rod confessed. “But I was a lot more careful to make sure that nobody was home when I did.”

  Jenny playfully smacked her forehead. “I don’t think I understand boys.”

  “Don’t try,” Zack said flatly. “You’ll never get it.”

  With the ice broken, the remainder of the ride to the house was full of easy conversation and laughter. After a half an hour, the roads started to look familiar as Jenny approached their new neighborhood. Eventually she rounded the corner and her house became visible. A car she didn’t immediately recognize sat in her driveway. Zack, noting it too, asked, “Who’s here?”

  Glancing at the tag, Jenny found herself saying, “Uh oh.”

  Zack seemed concerned. “What do you mean uh-oh?”

  “No, not really uh-oh.” Jenny turned to Rod with a grimace. “It just appears my mom has graced me with a surprise visit.”

  Chapter 4

  “Isabelle is here?” Rod asked. Fortunately he seemed as if that was good news to him.

  “It looks that way.” Jenny held up her hand as she opened her car door. “Hang on, give me a minute.”

  She approached her mother’s car to find Isabelle asleep in the driver’s seat. A loud knock on the window caused her mother to rise.

  Appearing a bit confused, Isabelle looked around as if trying to figure out how to roll down the window. Eventually she gave up and opened the door instead.

  “Ma, what are you doing here?”

  “I’m sorry, honey. I know I shouldn’t surprise you like this, and I won’t make a habit of it…but just the thought of you being here—pregnant—and I didn’t know how Zack reacted to it…I just had to come.”

  Jenny glanced back at the car that contained her biological father. “Well, ma, it’s not really a problem that you came, but I do wish you would have called me first. Then I could have warned you.”

  “Warned me? Warned me about what?” She looked heartbroken. “Oh, no. Is Zack upset about the baby?”

  “No, it’s not that.” With a sigh Jenny confessed, “Rod is in the car. I just picked him up from the airport.”

  Before Jenny even finished the sentence Isabelle started fixing her hair. “Rod is with you?”

  “Yeah. I didn’t tell you he was coming because I wasn’t sure how it would go. I figured I’d tell you afterward.”

  Isabelle didn’t reply; she simply continued to spruce herself up.

  “Ma, he’s married. You don’t need to try to impress him.”

  “Oh, it’s not like that,” Isabelle said. “I just don’t want him to take one look at me and decide the years haven’t been kind, that’s all.”

  “I doubt that, ma. You look great. Besides, he sounded very happy to see you.”

  Isabelle froze. Looking very touched, she whispered, “He did?”

  Jenny smiled. “Yes. He did. So I hope this won’t be awkward.”

  Adding a few last poofs to her hair, Isabelle said, “No, this shouldn’t be awkward.”

  “And by the way, I haven’t told Zack about the baby yet, so mum’s the word, okay?”

  “You haven’t told him?”

  Jenny rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t the right time.”

  Isabelle didn’t reply, but her disapproving look spoke volumes. Putting that whole topic on the back shelf, Jenny walked back to her car and stuck her head in the door. “It’s okay. I told her you’re here, Rod, and she didn’t seem upset.”

  “She didn’t know I was coming?”

  Ashamed, Jenny replied, “I’m afraid I didn’t tell her. I’m sorry.”

  “I thought maybe she’d come to see me,” Rod replied, seeming disappointed.

  “No,” Jenny said, “It was actually just a coincidence. But she is looking forward to seeing you.”

  He emerged from the car, eagerly walking toward Isabelle. Jenny found herself frozen, wary of how things would unfold.

  Rod extended his arms. “Isabelle. How delightful to see you.”

  Jenny noted that her mother looked very emotional, although she couldn’t put her finger on exactly which emotions those were. It looked like a bizarre mixture of joy, guilt and regret.

  “Rod.” Isabelle embraced him like an old friend. “It’s so great to see you after all these years.”

  Jenny released a breath, and with it some fear.

  They let go of their hug. “I guess we have a lot of catching up to do.”

  Wiping a small tear from her eye, Isabelle replied, “Yes. We certainly do.”

>   Near the end of the evening, Jenny headed out to the store to pick up another set of bedding. She had actual beds in both main-level guest rooms, but only one of them had sheets. She didn’t realize she’d be having two sets of company.

  Zack accompanied her on the trip to the store. As they stood in the linen section, he noted, “This visit with your mom and Rod actually seems to be going quite well.”

  “Yes, thank God,” Jenny declared with an intense stare at Zack.

  “It’s a really strange coincidence, don’t you think? Your mom showing up on the night Rod came into town?”

  Jenny swallowed nervously. “Yeah. That is a coincidence.” Unable to look at Zack, she kept her attention focused on the bedding options.

  “Do you think that will be a regular occurrence? Her just showing up like that? Not that I care, really, because I live downstairs. I just think it might bother you after a while if it happens often.”

  “No, I don’t think it’ll be a regular occurrence.” Jenny was eager to change the subject. She pointed to an all-in-one bedding set. “What do you think of this one?”

  Zack shrugged. “It’s your guest room.”

  “Does that mean you don’t like it?”

  “That means it’s your guest room,” Zack repeated. “So you get to choose. Besides, I’m a guy. I have no idea what looks good or not. They all look fine to me.”

  Jenny pulled that set off the shelf, hugging both arms around it. As they headed toward the register, Zack noted, “You really do resemble your dad.”

  Jenny nodded subtly, almost ashamed to agree. “Yeah, I noticed that.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with that, you know.”

  “I know,” Jenny replied, almost sure she believed it.

  Zack held out his hand, gesturing to the comforter set. “Here. Do you want me to carry that?”

  Just as the words no, I’ve got it were about to roll off Jenny’s tongue, she realized it wasn’t a crime to let a man do something nice for her. “If you wouldn’t mind, that’d be great.”