Sinful Secrets

by Melissa Ohnoutka

“What was this detective’s name? I’d like to talk to him myself.”

  “Rayburn, I think. Beefy guy. Glasses. Weird, short hairdo. Nice enough, but a little creepy.” He felt her shudder in the chair.

  Tiny hairs prickled on the base of his neck. “Detective Rayburn? He said he was with the HPD?” Ryker knew practically everybody in HPD, minus a few clerks and new hires in the evidence room. His good friend kept him up to date on things. There’d never been a Detective Rayburn on the force and no new hires or transfers since last week.

  “Yeah, I believe so. He showed me his badge, although honestly, I didn’t really pay much attention. I was still a bit groggy.”

  “What did he want?”

  “Nothing in particular. He asked me questions about my dad. About Keith. About you and why a small-town deputy was working on the case.”

  He locked his jaw, his fingers tightening on the handles of the wheelchair. “What did you tell him about me?”

  “Well, I explained how my truck went missing. That you were called in because it was last seen along Highway 290, which I thought was your territory. That seemed to pacify him.”

  “He ask anything else?”

  “Just if I knew what room my father was in. Or anything about the formula the suspects wanted. But I didn’t.”

  “That it?”

  “I asked him if they’d found Denise. I know she’s the reason he’s here fighting for his life now. My father was supposed to be at that warehouse, and Keith freaked when he found out she’d deviated from his plans again.”

  “How did he respond to your question?”

  “Funny… Now that I think about it he acted kind of nervous. Got really anxious to wrap things up. Said he had another lead he needed to check up on.”

  That sealed it. This man was no cop or detective. Ryker had a good idea who he was working with, though. The fact he’d managed to get so close to Jo Jo burned the lining of his stomach. “We need to see about getting you some extra security.”

  “What on earth for?” Both hands on the arms of the wheelchair, she turned to look back at him with a perturbed expression. “You think Denise will still come after me? That wouldn’t be very smart on her part.”

  “Since there’s still quite a large amount of money at stake, I can’t see them walking away without at least trying to get at it. According to Turow, the laptop stolen from the Pine Woods Hotel vault hasn’t been found. And with this guy showing up here asking you questions about the codes, I’m thinking they don’t have them yet.” His voice hardened. “I don’t mean to alarm you, but that man was no detective.”

  “Are you sure? How do you know?”

  “Trust me, okay? I have a feeling he’s working with the thief from the hotel. The one Denise got to snatch the laptop for Keith. And it worries me that he got so close to you.”

  She sat silent, her beautiful gaze filled with concern. “Why would he risk coming to the hospital just to talk to me?” And then her face turned fearful. “My dad. He’s a loose end, and the only one who knows the codes.” Her eyes clouded, and she twisted back around in the seat.

  Ryker had reached the same conclusion a millisecond before she did and hurried his pace, the wheels of the chair making a weird clanking sound on the polished tile. At the elevator, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Turow’s number.

  “You’ve got Clint McNamee under twenty-four-hour surveillance, right?” He felt a twinge of relief at Turow’s answer and nodded to Jo Jo, trying to ease her fears. It didn’t work. If he hadn’t moved into the elevator fast when the doors opened, she’d have come out of the chair and taken off up the stairs on her own.

  He turned his attention back to the call. “I have reason to believe a suspect was in Joanna McNamee’s room this morning. Looks like they may try to get the code to the laptop and then cover their tracks. Need an officer outside her room ASAP.”

  He listened as his contact assured him the protection on the elder McNamee was topnotch and arrangements would be made for Jo Jo as well. “We’re on our way there now. She’s been cleared to visit.”

  He ended the call, placing the phone back into his pocket. “He’s fine. You’ll see,” he said, lightly squeezing her shoulder. “They’re getting desperate. Making careless mistakes. We’re going to catch these guys.”

  “But what if you can’t.” She swallowed. “You’ve been after them for years. Not really a good track record.”

  That stung. He moved around to the front of the chair, bending down so they were eye to eye. “We’re closer this time. We’re going to find them and put them where they belong. You have my word.”

  Emotion brightened her eyes and she nodded, her lips stretched into a tight thin line as she bit them together.

  “Right now, I need you to stay calm. Let us do our job.” Hands covering her smaller fisted ones, he let his gaze travel over her lovely face.

  “I believe you.” She sighed, her breathing slowing as she relaxed back in the chair.

  “That a girl.” He smiled.

  The elevator reached their floor with a loud buzz, and he moved back behind the chair.

  After wheeling her through the doors on the seventh floor, Ryker said, “His room is right around the next corner.”

  “Do you really think they might hurt him?”

  “He can identify them.”

  “So can I.” She quivered again, her hands fidgeting in her lap.

  “You won’t be left alone again. I promise.”

  As they turned the corner, a uniformed officer lifted his head, giving them a good once-over, his hand resting on the butt of his gun. McNamee’s room was at the end of the hallway. No one could come or go without passing by the officer.

  “Deputy Kane and Joanna McNamee,” he said as they neared. “We should be cleared to visit.”

  The officer picked up a clipboard off the chair beside him and started looking down the list. “Yes, you’re good. Says here you have five minutes tops.”

  “Thank you,” Jo Jo said, standing the minute the chair rolled to a stop in front of the door. Taking a deep breath, she hesitated.

  “You want me to wait out here for you?” He didn’t feel right listening in on their conversation.

  “No, I want you there.” She turned and their eyes locked. “Please.”

  “Sure. Just let me know if you want me to leave, okay.”

  She nodded then reached back for his hand.

  As their fingers touched, he realized she needed him for moral support. There was no way to know what kind of condition they’d find her father in.

  The sound of the machines echoed off the small room’s walls as they entered. There were no cards, flowers, or balloons. No well wishes or get well soon sentiments. Ryker felt as if he’d been given a rare peek into the non-existent social life of Jo Jo’s father. Clint McNamee turned toward them as the door closed. He looked older, his skin pale, face sunken.

  “Joanna.” His voice was strained, dry, as if talking took great effort.

  “Dad, are you okay?” Jo Jo released Ryker’s hand, shuffling closer to the bed, but made no move to touch her father.

  “Better, now that I see you are.” The older man’s brows furrowed, a protective pitch in his tone. “Who’s your friend?”

  “This is Deputy Kane. He’s the reason I’m still alive.”

  “Then I owe you my gratitude, young man.” Even attached to all the machines, Clint McNamee commandeered the room.

  “Actually, your daughter saved my life first.” Ryker crossed his arms over his chest. “She’s quite an amazing woman.” A strong need to build her up in front of her father surfaced.

  McNamee looked from him to Jo Jo, clearly trying to assess their relationship.

  “He’s a friend, Daddy.” Jo Jo shook her head.

  A friend. Damn. He’d hoped he’d become more than that.

  “Do you know who did this to you, Daddy?”

  McNamee coughed, his entire body convulsing at the action.
“I think we both know.” He coughed again, reaching out for her hand.

  She took it slowly and let him pull her closer.

  “Joanna, I’m sorry. I had no idea Denise—”

  “She fooled everybody.”

  “Not you,” he said with admiration in his eyes. “I should have listened to you. I should always have listened to you. Keith kept telling me how lost you were. How you struggled to make decisions on your own. That your rebellious side was a sign you needed more structure and guidance, and like a fool, I believed him. Although deep down I knew better. I’m sorry for that. I love you, sweetheart.”

  Jo Jo caught her whimper at the last second, her entire form crumpling to the bed against her father’s chest. Ryker’s heart ached at the sight. He was glad they’d had the chance to make their peace. Knowing Keith had manipulated her father, too, had to ease some of the sting she felt after learning he’d paid Keith to watch over her. Even better McNamee had shown confidence in his daughter—she deserved it.

  “Come now, don’t cry,” the older man said, patting her head. “It doesn’t become you.” He paused, until she’d collected her emotions. “I know I’ve been hard on you all these years, but it’s been for your own good. I never wanted anyone to run over you, take advantage of you, fool you as I’ve been.”

  After several seconds, Jo Jo regained her composure and sat on the edge of the bed, her father’s hand still in hers. “Denise is a con-artist of the worst kind. You never had a chance.”

  “I started having my doubts after the Christmas party. I found her chatting with a man at the party. A man I didn’t invite. Getting a bit too cozy for my liking, too. Imagine my surprise to find out he worked at the hotel.” McNamee readjusted his position on the bed. “But, I’m not referring to Denise, honey.”

  Ryker decided the man Denise talked to that night had to be Frank, the suspect in the robbery. The man he’d confronted behind the counter with the goods. They’d probably been working out the details on how to get him into the vault unnoticed.

  “Then who are you talking about, Daddy?”

  “I need to tell you the truth about your mother. I’m not sure I’ll have another chance, and you’ve earned the right to know.” McNamee leaned to the side and made eye contact with Ryker. “Would you mind stepping outside, son?” he said, nodding toward the door where Ryker stood.

  Jo Jo looked over her shoulder, frowning. “No. I want him to stay. He’s a really good friend.” She turned back to her father.

  Ryker straightened against the wall as the older man’s gaze fell on him. “I see,” her father said. “Looks like you have some explaining to do as well.”

  “Tell me about Mother.” She ignored her father’s comment, and damn, Ryker hoped she’d elaborate on the “good friend” part.

  McNamee cleared his throat. “This is not going to be easy for you to hear, but it’s the truth, Joanna. I swear. Something I’ve tried to shield you from.”

  “I’m a big girl. Tell me.”

  “You’re mother and I…” He swallowed so hard it sounded over the beeping of the machines. “Well, we had to get married. We were young and in love. Not as careful as we should have been.” He stroked her hand. “She didn’t take the news well.”

  Jo Jo’s frame stiffened. “What do you mean?”

  “This isn’t easy for me, even now.” He paused to collect his thoughts. “After your mother got clarification from a doctor, she said she didn’t want a baby, that she wasn’t ready. She was young, beautiful, having the time of her life and didn’t want to lose her perfect figure.”

  Shit. This wasn’t something you shared in front of a stranger. He needed to leave. Turning, he moved toward the door.

  “Oh, no you don’t. Ryker, you stay right there.”

  He gulped back the uneasiness and turned back around. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “What are you saying, Dad?”

  “I loved your mother, worshipped the ground she walked on, but there was no way I was letting her kill our unborn child and offered her enough money so she’d stay. That’s why we had a quick wedding.” He struggled to keep a coughing fit under control. “She resented me, but accepted it.”

  “And the child…was…?”

  “You, sweetheart.”

  Well, damn.

  Joanna almost collapsed to the floor at her father’s revelation. Her mother never wanted her.

  Never in the darkest pit of her mind would she have believed this. Her father was a lot of things, but he was no liar. He’d always been honest with her, except where her mother was concerned. That topic had always been off limits. And now she knew why.

  “Of course, her attitude changed after you were born, just like I thought it would. Once she saw your sweet, chubby face, she fell in love. I thought she was a changed woman.” He paused turning his face, probably so she wouldn’t be able to see his tears.

  But she saw them, and her heart squeezed inside her chest. “Daddy?” She’d never seen her father cry or lose his composure, except for the day her grandmother died.

  He coughed again to mask the emotion, anger etching across his face as he met her gaze. “That night of the Christmas party, when I came home to find you playing in the mud, the beautiful dress I bought you for the party ruined, she’d been messing around with the neighbor.”

  “Senator Whalen’s brother-in-law?” Ryker asked from his position by the door.

  “He was far from being a senator then.” Her father sighed, and the emotion held within that broken breath cracked Joanna’s heart in two. “I’d heard rumors about the two of them but dismissed them as jealous gossip. After all, he was married with a young son. I wouldn’t let myself believe my beautiful wife would do anything to destroy our perfect little family.”

  She felt faint. Keith had been telling the truth? Her head whirled, and she grabbed the bed railing for support. “If this is true, why didn’t you just divorce her?”

  “I was afraid she’d fight for custody. There was no way in hell I’d share joint custody or let her leave with you. She was unfit to be a mother. I realized that then. Realized I’d created the monster and needed to take care of it.”

  “Take care of it?” Joanna gulped back the fear. “What did you do?”

  “I gave her an ultimatum she couldn’t refuse.” His dark eyes grew darker. “She could stay and face the shame, humiliation, and possible investigation into her motives for killing Rebecca Coleman. Or she could disappear.”

  The earth wobbled beneath her. Killed Keith’s mother? Did her father believe this or had he merely used it as leverage? “Daddy, why?”

  “I had no choice. The decision to leave you wasn’t easy for her, and she stayed in town for a while, trying to change my mind. But it was too late. I knew she wouldn’t change, that she was more worried about what people would think. It was the only way.” He appeared flustered. “I know growing up without a mother has been tough on you. I know how badly you’ve wanted to know what happened to her, but I didn’t see the point in causing you more pain.” His large hand covered hers over the bed railing. “You understand, right?” He swallowed hard. “You forgive me?”

  No wonder Keith was so messed up. How he’d discovered the awful truth about why his mother killed herself would probably forever be a mystery. Clearly, he’d needed therapy as a young boy, but had worked hard to hide his mental illness and survived the only way he could. By living two separate realities and connecting himself to her in some warped vision in his twisted head.

  Joanna met his misty gaze, struggling with the torrential flood threatening her own eyes. “I wish you’d have told me. All these years? I had no idea.”

  His breath caught, his expression revealing he wanted to say so much more. But the coughing returned with a vengeance, and he had to lean forward in the bed to compensate.

  “Daddy, I’m so sorry. Denise won’t get away with this.”

  Even in his weakened state, his grip was strong on her arm. “No.” He shook h
is head. “You stay away”—more coughing—“from her… Far away… You hear me?”

  Alarms sounded on the machine behind him. Joanna tried to make sense out of the beeps and lines running across the screens, but couldn’t.

  “You need to leave now,” the head nurse said as she entered the room and hurried to her father’s bedside. “He needs his rest.”

  “Will he be all right?” Joanna’s heart raced. She had so many questions, had so much time to make up with her father. He’d been protecting her all these years in his bizarre way. And here she’d thought him malicious and bitter about chasing her mother away.

  “We just need to calm him down. The drug overdose weakened his heart. What he needs is rest not stress.” She eyed Joanna accusingly.

  “Okay. I’m leaving,” she told the nurse. As she walked by the foot of the bed, she gently stroked her father’s leg. “I love you, Daddy.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Ryker followed Jo Jo out of the hospital room as she limped, wrapping an arm around her shoulders for comfort and support. She looked so utterly broken.

  Talk about unnerving. If he’d known what McNamee was about to say, he’d have excused himself, regardless of Jo Jo’s protests. He felt certain she had no idea and probably regretted her decision to have him stay in the room now.

  “You going to be okay?”

  She nodded.

  “Want to get something to eat? Drink?”

  She shook her head. “And I don’t need that thing, either,” she said pointing at the wheelchair by the wall like she wanted to toss it down the hallway.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea. You can’t have those stitches coming out too soon.” She looked up at him and crossed her arms. He stepped back. Prepared for a fight.

  But with a huff, she turned and dropped into the chair. “I just need to get out of here.”

  “Okay, but let’s go slow. This cripple isn’t moving as quick as I used to.” He tried to lighten the mood. She didn’t bite.

  They walked down the long corridor in silence, the only sound a sniffle here and there. He wanted to assure her it was okay to cry, that letting it out would be healthy and help her feel better. But the way she angrily swiped the tears away made him think it best to let her be. She was tough. Wanted him to know it, too.