Dare to Trust

by R Gendreau-Webb

  “Are you alright?” Mia asked him. He hadn’t heard her follow him into the kitchen. Jason nodded as he took a long swig of beer. “You haven’t eaten,” she pointed out as she watched him empty the bottle.

  “I’m not hungry.” Jason opened the fridge and grabbed another beer.

  “Obviously, you’re not driving back tonight.”

  “Nope.” He drank more. “I’m not going anywhere today or tonight.” He felt lucky that there wasn’t media outside, waiting for him to leave the brownstone.

  Mia stifled her response. Arguing with him wasn’t going to be productive. She moved passed him to look in the fridge to see if there was anything to make a sandwich. Nothing. “I’m gonna run to the market up the street for a few things. There’s nothing here.” Jason ignored her but continued drinking.

  He paid for it in the morning. The forty-eight hours were almost up; he and Mia needed to return to Maine by the evening. Jason’s stomach was in knots, his head throbbed, the room spun when he tried to get up. He couldn’t remember the last time he had awoken with a hangover.

  “Hey, good morning.” Mia had heard him wake up and before he got out of bed, had aspirin and black coffee for him. “Here.” She handed him the steaming cup as he sat up. “That will help.” Judging from the empty bottles in the kitchen she had found that morning as she made coffee, Mia knew Jason was going to feel horrible.

  He gratefully took a sip. “Thanks.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Mia asked him. “I know you didn’t last night.” She had left him alone in the study. He had obviously not wanted anyone around.

  “There’s nothing to talk about,” Jason answered as he slowly got out of bed. He made his way into the bathroom, stripped off his shorts and turned on the shower. “We’ve got to be at the lawyer’s by eleven.”

  “The reading of the will?”

  “Yeah.” He stepped into the shower and appreciated the forceful hot water as it hit him. “Then I guess we need to drive back.” He was acutely aware that he had to be back in Maine by nightfall.

  “I can drive if you want me to,” Mia offered.

  “No.” Jason finished and exited the shower, a towel draped low around his narrow waist. Mia sighed, remembering past times when she would have taken advantage of his lack of clothes. She knew neither of them was in the mood now.

  “I took out one of your suits for you,” she told him as she slipped on a dress.

  “Thanks.”

  Just before they left the brownstone, Jason wondering when he would be able to return, his cell rang. “Howard, its Captain Saunders. Sorry about your mother.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Jason was surprised to hear from his boss.

  “I know things are not easy for you right now,” Saunders started. “I was hoping you might be able to meet me. Maybe at my house?”

  “I’m on the way to the lawyer’s.” Jason thought for a moment---what did his boss want? Obviously it was in an unofficial capacity. “Would twelve thirty work?”

  “Yes. See you then, Jason.”

  The formal reading of the will did not take long. At first, Jannifer’s lawyer wanted Mia to stay in the well-appointed waiting room. Jason flatly refused the request and Mia was now seated next to him in the lawyer’s office.

  “Your mother left two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to various charities,” he told Jason, his glare clearly displaying his displeasure with Mia in the room. “The rest has been left to you. With a stipulation.” The lawyer hadn’t wanted Mia to hear the stipulation. If she was a gold digger, as Jannifer had once commented, than the lawyer didn’t want to plant ideas in her head.

  Here it comes, thought Jason. Even from the grave, she’s trying to control me. “The stipulation is?”

  “There is two million dollars in a trust fund, like the money in trust from your grandmother’s will. Same stipulation. You must marry and have an offspring to carry on the Howard name before your thirty-fifth birthday. If you do not, the money goes to charity.”

  Mia winced as she listened. She couldn’t imagine why a mother would put such pressure on a child? Force him into a relationship and parenthood if he didn’t want those things? Jason’s voice, calm and seemingly unfazed, cut into her thought. His mother’s demands on him were nothing new. And now she better understood his reaction to the pregnancy and the thought of someone else trying to force his hand. “The properties?” he asked.

  “They’re yours now, the Boston property and the cottage on the Vineyard. There are no stipulations attached to inheriting them.”

  “Thank you,” Jason offered as he stood and grabbed Mia’s hand. He led her from the office proper, through the waiting room and out into the corridor towards the elevator. “Such bullshit,” he muttered as he pressed the down button for the elevator.

  “Are you angry about the money?” Mia asked. She was stunned; she hadn’t realized the level of wealth Jason had come from. She had never known about the summer cottage on Martha’s Vineyard. Jason had never seemed to be obsessed with money, didn’t flaunt it. But he had never seemed to worry about it either.

  “Hell, yes!” His blue eyes almost pierced through her. “I don’t give a damn if I get it or not. I am pissed that even dead, the Howard women are still trying to mold me into the son and grandson they wanted without any care about what I want.” He took a breath and didn’t like the apprehensive look that crossed Mia’s face. Was she wondering if he had enough contempt for his mother to have killed her? “I didn’t hate them, Mia,” he offered quickly. “I just never fit into the mold they wanted to stick me in.”

  “I didn’t think you hated them, Jay,” Mia said softly, touching his arm.

  ***

  Jason had been to Captain Howard’s home only once. It was on the outskirts of the city in a pleasant, tree-lined neighborhood. Saunders was waiting out on the porch that ran along the front of the two-story home. “How are you holding up, Jason?” he asked as his guests climbed the stairs up onto the porch. He thought the detective looked exhausted and stressed.

  “I’m okay.” He turned to Mia. “You remember Captain Saunders?”

  “Yes, nice to see you again, sir.”

  “I wish it were under better circumstances. Well, come in.” Saunders led them into the living room. “Have a seat.” He pointed to the couch and stuffed recliner. “I’m sorry about your mother,” he began.

  Jason nodded. “Is this about the internal affairs investigation or my arrest?”

  Saunders drew in a breath, wondering how to start. “I’ve known you since you joined the force. I know you’re not capable of what you’re accused of.”

  “That’s a great endorsement,” Jason answered, “but they are stacking circumstantial evidence against me no matter what the truth is.”

  “I know,” Saunders nodded. “You’re being set-up.”

  “It appears that way, but I have no idea who or why.”

  “I think I do.” Saunders produced a big manila envelope and handed it to Jason. “Don’t ask me where I got that. It doesn’t matter. But you need to have an open mind.”

  Jason gave a confused look to Saunders as he opened the envelope, taking out several pages. He flipped through without saying a word. Mia anxiously waited for something to be said. Nothing---silence. She watched Jason slide the papers back into the envelope and stand.

  “You didn’t get that from me,” Saunders informed Jason. “I haven’t seen you since you were put on administrative leave.”

  “Thank you, Captain.” Jason had a sorry look on his face as he glanced at Mia. “Let’s go,” he told her. Without another word, they made their way outside to the car.

  “Are you going to tell me what was in the envelope?” Mia finally asked as the car pulled out of the driveway.

  For several moments, Jason was silent. Finally, he answered her question. “My partner is framing me.”

  “Do you want to elaborate?” Mia was confused.

  “No.” He shook his h
ead. “I need to figure this out first.” Mia knew that he wasn’t going to tell her anything more.

  The ride back to Maine was quiet and strained. Mia looked out the window for the majority of the trip, gazing at the passing landscape. Every once in a while, she would glance over at Jason. He was clearly lost in thought, muscles tensed. His eyes were sharp and angry. Mia left him alone.

  XVI.

  The cottage had been searched again while Mia and Jason had been in Boston. Jannifer’s death had been ruled a homicide and the investigators were confident traces of the arsenic that had killed her would be found there. They had been wrong. But the search hadn’t been as neat as the first one. Items were left out of place and scattered and disorganized about the rooms. Jason was getting alarmingly comfortable with such invasions but Mia was visibly upset.

  “I’m sorry, baby,” Jason told her as he picked up books that had been thrown and left on the floor. “I’ll pick up. Why don’t you take a hot bath? Relax a little bit.” He wished there was a way to leave Mia out of this nightmare. He was failing miserably at protecting her from all of this. Coming back to a ransacked cottage after the police searched it yet again, was the last thing Jason had wanted to face. Especially after the he had been side swiped by the revelations concerning his partner.

  “I guess I will,” she sighed. As she looked around and saw the disorder of her things, she could feel herself becoming more anxious.

  Once she was soaking in the claw foot tub, Jason brought her a drink. “Want anything else?” he asked as he sat on the edge of the tub. “I can wash your back for you,” he offered with a rare grin, trying to lighten the mood.

  “No,” Mia told him. “I’m just gonna soak until the water gets cold.”

  “Okay. I’ll finish cleaning up.” He left a soft kiss on her forehead and closed the bathroom door.

  As he picked up the mess the search had left behind, Jason noticed his one of his mother’s bags. Allegedly, the police had taken all of her things as evidence but they had missed this. He unzipped the Louis Vuitton bag and glanced inside. A couple magazines, a lipstick, tissues and half-empty bottled water. Jason knew that the source of the arsenic had yet to be found---could there be anything in the water?

  Jason headed back into the bathroom. “Mia, I’ve got to go out for a little bit.”

  “What?’ She had just gotten out of the tub and was drying off. “What’s wrong?”

  “I need to talk to Lt. Ross.”

  “Did he call you? Does your lawyer know?”

  Jason shook his head. “No. I want to talk with him, without my lawyer.”

  Mia felt panic creep into her chest. What was he doing? “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Last time, you ended up in jail.” Her voice was shaky.

  “I need to prove to him I’m innocent,” Jason told her as he kissed her. “Try not to worry. I think it’s all starting to make sense.”

  “What is making sense? Jason, please tell me what is going on.”

  “I’ll be back soon.”

  ***

  Lt. Ross was shocked to see Jason Howard waiting in his office. When he had been called and told the murder suspect wanted to speak with him, sans lawyer, Ross had figured it had to be some sort of joke. He couldn’t be that lucky. Apparently, he should be playing the lottery.

  Jason watched as Ross sauntered into his office and sat behind his desk. “I wanted to assure you that I was back within the forty-eight hours,” Jason started.

  “Does your lawyer know you’re here?” the lieutenant asked.

  “No. And I don’t want him to know.”

  Ross glared at the detective sitting in front of him, cocking an eye. “Are you playing some game, Howard? I don’t have time for games.”

  “Your search of the cottage missed this.” Jason produced his mother’s bag and set it on Ross’ desk. “It was my mother’s. You’ll find my fingerprints on the outside but not inside. I think you should fingerprint the water bottle inside and test it for arsenic.”

  Ross peered inside. “Why do you think there’s arsenic in the water?”

  Jason made sure to look the lieutenant in the eyes. “I didn’t do what you’re trying to get me for. I am trying to clear my name. I know you’d do the same. Humor my theory and test the bottle.” Jason stood. “I’m sure you’ll be in touch.”

  Once Jason had left, Ross grabbed the file on Jannifer’s death. He flipped through photos of the cottage hours after she had died. The bag was in the photos---how had the officers missed it when they had executed the search warrant? Ross picked up the phone on his desk to forewarn the lab of the new evidence he was about to deliver to them.

  The next morning, Lieutenant Ross knocked on the door of the cottage. When Mia answered the door, she immediately thought he was there to bring Jason back to jail. “May I come in?” Ross asked, recognizing the look of panic crossing her face. “I’m here to see Detective Howard.”

  Mia slowly moved away from the front door and let him in. “He’s in the kitchen,” she told him, her eyes following Ross as he passed through the living room to the kitchen.

  “Good Morning Detective Howard,” Ross started. “I wanted to tell you about the preliminary lab results on that water bottle you brought by my office.”

  Jason looked up from the kitchen table where he was having his coffee almost hoping to hear that his theory was wrong. “And you came here to tell me?”

  Ross smiled slightly. “I’m starting to think that maybe someone would be happy seeing you take the wrap for all the happenings around here, even though you might not have done any of it.”

  “I’m listening,” Jason said.

  “That water bottle had arsenic in it. And two sets of finger prints; your mother’s and Keith Grimes.”

  Jason let out a breath and looked down at the table. “Shit,” he muttered. First the information he had read from the papers from the envelope and now finger prints on the tainted bottle. “There’s something you should see.” Jason got up, disappeared for a moment and returned with the manila envelope he had received from Saunders yesterday. He slid it across the table to Lt. Ross. “I just found out some interesting things about my partner yesterday.”

  The lieutenant skimmed through the pages. He quickly learned that Grimes’ real name was Michael Keith Grimes, and the unhappy story of what had happened to him and his little sister, Caroline. Ross didn’t miss the link between Grimes and Jason’s father, Judge Stewart Howard. “You didn’t know any of this about your partner, Grimes?”

  “No.”

  “It seems like he might have reason to be behind this. But there’s still some dots to be connected.” Lt. Ross stood. “I am guessing you’re going to be doing some more digging.”

  “I am,” Jason confirmed.

  “So you tell me if you need any help. Have a good day, Detective Howard.” Ross walked towards the door.

  ***

  Michael was frustrated. Why the hell hadn’t Howard been re-arrested and charged with his mother’s murder? Shouldn’t it have been seen more than a coincidence that he was bailed out of jail and on the same day, his mother was poisoned in the same manner as the others?

  He began to pace, trying to collect his thoughts and decide what to do next. He started to pray, asking God what he should do next. Jason wasn’t a bad guy, he thought, but obviously had the Howard DNA. So, there was no alternative but make him pay for what his father had done. It had been hard to hold any sort of grudge of hatred towards Jason until he had knocked up his girlfriend doctor. They shouldn’t have been living in sin!

  Michael and his wife had been trying to get pregnant for over a year. They were in a loving, committed relationship. And Jason? He lived in sin, outside the bonds of marriage with his girlfriend. She had accidently gotten pregnant. Well, it served them right that she lost it, right? Michael had secretly enjoyed watching how the miscarriage took a toll on Howard and then how it seemed to tear his relationship with the doctor apart.

  W
hen he had learned of the miscarriage that was when Michael knew it had been a sign from God. Time to act! And as he thought things over, he realized Mia was the key. If anything happened to her, Jason would suffer immensely. Maybe his fancy lawyer would get him off the hook for the arsenic poisonings, just maybe, but he wouldn’t care if something happened to Mia.

  XVII.

  “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Mia sat next to Jason at the kitchen table. The lieutenant had left almost a half hour ago and Jason was still sitting, lost in deep thought.

  “I gave Ross a water bottle my mother drank from. It had arsenic in it. And Grimes’ fingerprints on it.” A cold, angry look skimmed across his face. Jason was still trying to digest that there was a possibility that his partner hated him. Had it out for him. After working together, having each other’s backs for over three years, how could that be?

  “And?” Mia gently touched his knee. She could sense the storm of emotions going on inside him.

  “Points to him poisoning her,” Jason spat out. He stared blankly at the kitchen wall.

  She hadn’t been prepared for that answer. Not in a million years. “What? Are you sure?”

  “Turns out he has a past. One he never bothered to mention to me.” Jason unconsciously banged his hand into the table and immediately regretted it when pain shot through his broken limb. “I can’t wait to get rid of that,” he muttered, referring to the splint.

  Mia clutched his hand gently between both of hers. “What are you going to do?”

  “I need to talk to him.” Jason sighed, letting his weight rest against the back of the chair. “There’s got to be a better explanation.”

  Mia stood and hugged her body to Jason’s reclining frame. “I’m sorry,” she whispered into his shoulder. He draped his arms around her, feeling fortunate he had her.

  ***

  “I need you to meet me,” Jason told his partner. He had called Grimes, deciding he was just going to ask Keith about the information the captain had passed along. There had to be an explanation. He and Grimes had been through too much together. No way could Grimes be responsible for setting him up or killing his mother. It was crazy!