Mission--Colton Justice

by Jennifer Morey

  “Tess still could have found out about Holly.”

  “Most assuredly.”

  Jeremy thought of Livia and all the havoc she’d wreaked on this town. That woman could still be alive. But Oscar had to be investigated, as well.

  No matter what he found, nothing would bring Tess back. Jeremy wished she hadn’t died the way she had, drinking and driving. He wished she hadn’t died at all. Would she want him to do this, to look into her accident? If Livia killed her, yes.

  He saw Knox watching him and sensed his sympathy. Tess died suddenly in a tragic accident and left Jeremy with a young child, shattering his happiness and ideal family unit. He needed closure. He also needed vengeance, perhaps that more than anything. So maybe he didn’t need sympathy. Maybe he’d passed beyond grieving and now only needed to put Tess to rest.

  Adeline came to mind. Kissing her. The light in her eyes whenever she spent time with Jamie. The heat when she looked at him. She diffused his desire to avenge Tess. Tess’s disease had always bothered him, and now he could see that it had dimmed his love for her. Having a family had been more important. Having that family ripped apart had been—and still was—the most difficult part of his loss.

  “When my son, Cody, was kidnapped,” Knox said, “I thought Livia was responsible.”

  Jeremy hadn’t known that. Livia hadn’t kidnapped his son. Someone else had. Everyone blamed Livia for wrongdoings. She made an easy target. But she also held the top card when it came to crime. She may not be to blame for everything, but she was responsible for many crimes.

  “Until somebody shows me her dead body, I won’t stop looking for evidence that she killed Tess. I’ll look at other suspects, but she’s still on my list.” Along with Oscar.

  Knox nodded twice. “What does Adeline think?”

  “She withholds judgment, but I have a good investigator in her.”

  Jeremy hadn’t liked her opposition to his theory that Livia was somehow responsible for Tess’s death, but she’d cover every angle. If there was any evidence to be found, she’d find it, one way or another.

  * * *

  Later that day and after dropping Jamie off at her mother’s, Adeline met Jeremy at his office, and then they’d driven to see Holly Bridgeport. All the way to the woman’s pricey apartment, she kept hashing over her conversation with her mother. She had asked a lot of questions about Jeremy and especially Jamie. She’d picked up on Adeline’s feelings for Jeremy. She’d already known she had them for Jamie. Her mother had been the only person alive who had known what hell she’d gone through giving up her son. Adeline had carried her child with her always. She never forgot him.

  “You’re awfully quiet,” Jeremy said from across the car.

  Flustered, she glanced at him and then returned her gaze to the apartment building. She and Jeremy had decided to wait for Holly to leave so they could intercept her without risking her refusing to answer the door.

  “I’m okay.”

  “What’s on your mind?”

  Should she tell him? She wouldn’t talk about how she’d suffered after giving up Jamie, not yet, anyway.

  “My mother got curious about us,” she said.

  “Curious? How?”

  “When she found out I’m staying with you, she had a lot of questions.” Adeline smiled to lighten what carried much more weight in her. “She was just being my mom.”

  After several seconds, he asked, “What did you tell her?”

  “That I was staying with you through the investigation.” She left out a lot that her mother had ascertained.

  Jeremy remained silent for a few seconds. “What about Jamie?”

  Again, she wondered how much to tell him. Maybe he needed to hear some of it. “She thinks we’d make a fine family.” She’d heard his friend say something similar. That had thrown her off balance for a while—and also touched her more than she liked.

  “You’re already his mother.”

  He surprised her by saying that. “Do you think of me that way? As Jamie’s mother?”

  “You are. You’re his biological mother.”

  “Yes, but Tess was his mother.” She realized she held her breath as she waited for his reaction to that.

  “For only a year. Jamie doesn’t remember her.”

  Adeline turned away for a moment, not wishing for this talk to go any further. “You’re doing well as a single father. Jamie is a well-balanced little boy.”

  Jeremy smiled, all his love coming out in his eyes, which she saw briefly before he faced forward. “He is. He’s my life.”

  “You’re his.”

  His smile faded but didn’t vanish completely. “I’m afraid what having only a father will do to him.”

  Adeline had to be honest. Like Jeremy, she wanted what was best for their son. No matter how much she yearned to jump into an instant family and have her son in her life every day, she had to put his well-being first.

  “I’d worry about the same,” she said, “but you have to do what feels right for both of you.”

  Jeremy nodded a few times, his agreement whole and passionate. “I try not to project too far into the future, thinking about how long Jamie will be without a mother figure. I need Tess’s accident resolved. I need Tess resolved. I can’t make any decisions until then. Jamie is the most important to me, but what’s best for him is also what’s best for me.”

  Confirming what she’d already asserted didn’t soften the sting. Despite her inner efforts to remain aloof, to protect her heart from certain crushing if she opened her love to Jamie and even Jeremy, pieces pushed through, pieces of emotion that bound her to her son and his father.

  Looking toward the apartment building, she spotted Holly.

  “There she is.” Thank the stars.

  Holly Bridgeport stepped out of her apartment building. A tall, willowy blonde, Holly gave the impression of someone confident and beautiful. That made Adeline wonder what had happened to make her so insecure.

  “Did Knox tell you anything about her background?” she asked as they walked to meet the woman.

  “She had a rough childhood.”

  Yes, she had some pretty heavy baggage.

  She and Jeremy approached the woman, who saw them, and her steps slowed.

  “Holly?” Adeline said.

  Holly stopped walking, looking wary. “Yes?”

  “I’m Adeline Winters and this is Jeremy Kincaid.” She gestured her hand toward Jeremy and then dropped both at her sides.

  “Yes, I know you,” she said to Jeremy. “I was sorry to hear about Tess.”

  Was she? Adeline had to wonder.

  “Thanks. That’s actually why we’re here. Adeline is a private investigator. I’ve hired her to look into Tess’s accident.”

  Holly’s brow creased the smooth, alabaster skin above her pretty blue eyes. “You think someone may have deliberately caused her accident?”

  “I have my suspicions.”

  “Who? Why do you want to talk to me?”

  Adeline picked up on some nervous tension. “We know you’re seeing Oscar Biggs. How long has that been going on?”

  Her nervous tension intensified. “What does Oscar have to do with Tess’s car accident?”

  “Maybe nothing,” Adeline said. “We’re just covering every lead right now. He and Tess had a relationship years ago and she met him the day of her accident.”

  “He did?”

  “She wanted to pick up where they left off and he rejected her. How long have you been seeing Oscar?”

  “How do you know I’m seeing him?”

  “You were seen leaving a hotel together one morning,” Jeremy said.

  Holly lifted her chin. “I’ve been seeing Oscar for a while. Several years. Until recently, that is. He
said his wife found out about us.”

  “You work for Evan Sigurdsson, isn’t that right?” Jeremy asked.

  “Why are you asking me all these questions? What does any of that have to do with Tess?”

  “We’re trying to eliminate Oscar as a suspect,” Adeline said, leaving out the fact that they also considered her and possibly Evan as suspects. Jeremy wanted to eliminate them so Adeline would focus more on Livia, she was sure.

  “Oscar wouldn’t have hurt Tess. He had a secret sex life but he wouldn’t have hurt anyone. He liked having an escort handy. He started coming to me when Tess broke things off with him. He was upset and needed a steady companion. It didn’t start out sexual. He mainly took me to dinner or movies, that sort of thing. His wife is busy with their kids and isn’t interested in romance anymore. She’s quiet and a routine kind of person. Oscar needs more excitement in his women. He would never divorce his wife for the kids’ sake. He’s an important man with a demanding job. He needs more than what he has with his wife.”

  “Do you work for Evan?” Jeremy asked the question again.

  “I’m not a prostitute, if that’s what you’re trying to find out. I’m a professional escort.”

  She had to be in denial or trying to avoid the risk of arrest. “So, you’re not also seeing Evan?”

  Holly put her hand on her hip and took a sexy but defiant stance. “Evan and I have a special relationship. I help him run his business and we sometimes hang out together on a personal level.”

  “Are you sleeping with him?” Adeline asked.

  “Are you going to tell his wife?”

  “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  Holly narrowed her eyes at Adeline, and she got an idea of what Tess must have felt like when this woman looked at her like that. “I don’t sleep with all the men, only the ones I really like. I liked Oscar. I still do. Some of the other girls are different. They take the clients that expect sex. Evan respects me. He thinks I’m good at business.” The way she gave her head a little shake told Adeline the woman had worked hard to convince herself of that claim. Evan probably thought she was good at the sexual side of his business.

  “When is the last time you talked with Tess?” Jeremy asked.

  Holly’s animosity eased and her eyes lowered as though guilt had overridden her. At last she lifted her head. “Tess and I had our differences. We didn’t get along in high school, and she wasn’t glad to see me when I moved back to Shadow Creek. But I would have never tried to run her into a pole and kill her. In fact, we were becoming friends just before she died.” She became distant then, as though thinking about a blossoming friendship. But guilt still controlled her demeanor.

  “Tess never told me you two were talking,” Jeremy said.

  Holly turned to Jeremy. “She started drinking again. That’s what we did together. We went out and had a few drinks every now and then. She didn’t want you to know.”

  Jeremy made no comment.

  “The day of her accident I met her at a pub. She told me she wanted to start things back up with him and he refused.”

  Adeline wondered if that had made Holly feel triumphant. For once she’d gotten one up on the beautiful and talented Tess.

  “Did you like hearing that?” Adeline asked.

  “No.” She seemed ashamed now. “I admit, I’ve envied Tess ever since high school. Everyone liked her. She was so smart and good at sports and...beautiful.” She turned to Jeremy. “And she married you, a wealthy and handsome man. She had everything I wished I could have.”

  “So you enjoyed seeing her at her lowest?” Adeline asked the question in another way.

  “I’m not proud of that, but yes. Thing is, after all the time I spent with her in pubs, we became good friends. We ended up confiding in each other.”

  “Did she talk about me?” Jeremy asked.

  Holly seemed to hesitate. But then she remained forthright. “Yes. She said she didn’t think you loved her anymore. She was pretty upset about that.”

  “Why did she think I didn’t love her?”

  “She thought you knew she started drinking again.” Holly looked regretful.

  Jeremy lowered his head, the news seeming difficult for him to hear. Tess must have still loved him. She must have needed to feel loved and that’s what had driven her to Oscar—that and the alcohol clouding her judgment. If she hadn’t started drinking again, she and Jeremy would still be together and in love.

  “She was such a real person. Warmhearted. I started to really like her,” Holly said.

  “That’s not hard to do. Tess was a friendly, good person,” Jeremy said with a smile that pricked Adeline. Would he ever smile like that for her?

  “Even when she drank.” Holly smiled briefly before she sobered. “She told me she couldn’t control it. And it ended up killing her. I’m torn most of the time because I go from feeling like I helped kill her to glad I had the chance to get to know her.”

  Adeline could see Holly was being genuine. “It’s good you got to know her.”

  “Did you leave the pub together?” Jeremy asked.

  Holly shook her head. “I left before her. She said she was going to leave soon but she must have stayed another couple of hours, given the time of her accident.”

  “Did you ever see her with Livia Colton?” Jeremy asked.

  Adeline almost wished he wouldn’t ask about Livia. She just felt the odds Livia was responsible were low. Yes, Tess had taken Oscar from her, but would she kill Tess over it? From everything she knew about Livia, yes, she would, but the crash expert had convinced her the accident wasn’t a form of murder.

  “With her? No.”

  “Did she ever mention Livia to you?”

  Holly shook her head. “No. Never. Why?”

  “Thanks, Holly.” She cut the conversation short. “That’s all we need for now.”

  “Thank you.” Jeremy walked with Adeline back toward the car. “Do you think she’s hiding anything?” Jeremy asked. “She seemed so guilt-ridden.”

  “Yes. I think she was honest with what she told us.”

  “You don’t think I should have asked about Livia, do you?”

  She stopped at the car. “The crash expert doesn’t even think Tess was murdered.” She didn’t tell him she’d called the bank that ran the ATM across from where Tess had driven into the pole and asked them for video footage of the night of Tess’s accident and was waiting for the call to tell her it was ready for her to pick up. She’d wait until after she had that before she made her final determination.

  “What do you think?” Jeremy asked.

  “I don’t know yet.”

  “Do you think there’s at least a possibility Livia killed her?”

  “Of course. I just don’t think there’s a significant possibility.” She glanced over to see his annoyance had flared. He cared so much about Tess, and the loss of her needed healing. He thought he could overcome that by holding someone accountable. What would he do if no one but Tess was?

  * * *

  Jeremy understood Adeline worked with clues and facts and that most of the facts pointed to Tess dying as a result of her drunk driving. He was just glad she hadn’t given up searching for clues. He had to give her credit for that.

  Oscar’s wife said he had rented an apartment and she hadn’t seen him since she asked him to leave. He’d told her he had an affair with Holly. Jeremy and Adeline didn’t enlighten her that Holly was an escort. Now they rode the elevator up to Oscar’s apartment, Adeline next to him all sexy in her vest and pants with a smart white shirt underneath. At the floor number, they stepped into the hall. As they reached Oscar’s apartment, the door opened and Evan walked out, talking to Oscar, who held the door.

  “What are you doing here?” Evan all but hissed.

  �
�We’re here to talk to Oscar. What are you doing here?” Jeremy asked.

  “I don’t have to talk to you.” Evan swatted his hand in disgust and walked down the hall.

  Jeremy faced Oscar, feeling accusatory. “You and Evan are friends?”

  “We were friends when he worked for you.” Oscar held the door open and stepped aside to allow them inside. Jeremy was a little surprised by the welcome and easy confession.

  “I’m sorry I haven’t been in to work,” Oscar said. “I’ve had some trouble at home.” He didn’t say what kind of trouble but his tone hinted Jeremy shouldn’t have to be told.

  “That’s not why we’re here. My assistant told me you weren’t in the office.” Jeremy moved farther into the apartment as Oscar went to lean a hand on one of the kitchen stools.

  Light from a patio door brightened the open space and a television played the news at low volume. Jeremy didn’t see anything unusual that might hint to what Evan had come to Oscar about today.

  “You and Evan are close?” Adeline asked.

  “Close?” Oscar looked from her to Jeremy and then back at her. “I just told you we were friends.”

  He seemed hesitant. Maybe he and Evan were much closer than he let on.

  “Why was he just here?” Jeremy asked.

  “He gave me the name of a good lawyer and we talked, not that it’s any of your business.”

  He spoke to the owner of the company that employed him rather harshly. Granted, Jeremy may have pushed boundaries by asking him personal questions. He wasn’t the private investigator here. He was an employer and Oscar was an employee. And Oscar didn’t have to talk to Adeline at all. The fact that he did so willingly worked in his favor.

  “Did Tess know you were using an escort service?” Adeline asked.

  “Tess?” Oscar looked confused. “What does she have to do with that? I’m not using an escort service.”

  Why did he lie?

  “We know you’ve been with Holly Bridgeport and that she works for Evan’s escort service,” Jeremy said.

  “I don’t pay her.” Oscar’s tone turned offensive. Again, why did he feel the need to lie?

  “Evan gives her to you free of charge?” Adeline asked. “According to Holly, you do pay her. She admitted she’s an escort and she sleeps with the men she likes. She likes you.”