Love's Protector: A Maverick's Shield Novel

by Charisma Chloe

  “Yes I did and I find it very interesting. She’s definitely on my list of suspects which happens to be getting longer by the day.”

  “Do you think she’s capable of doing something like that? I mean, the woman is all of five feet and she can’t be more than one-hundred and twenty pounds soaking wet.”

  He looked up at her. “Anyone is capable of anything given the right motivation Amour. Don’t let looks deceive you.”

  She guessed he was right, but she was so warm and sweet when she was on stage. She supposed Mrs. Harrington had to be that way for the event and her husband was having an affair back then. Being a woman herself, she could understand how that would possibly motivate her to do the unthinkable even though it was a bit extreme. “I suppose.”

  “Come on, let’s go find Jax and see what our strategy should be.”

  After about twenty minutes of mingling, the three of them saw Senator Harrington enter the main house with his family. Jason and Jax thought it would be a good idea to tail the senator to see exactly where he was headed. They didn’t want him to leave before they had a chance to question him. Not that it was going to be easy; he had two large body guards and was constantly surrounded by reporters and fans.

  “Do you think we’ll be able to talk to him?” she turned to Jax and asked.

  “I’m sure, we just have to find the right time. It’s not gonna be simple but we can make it happen.”

  Jason tilted his head towards a small doorway across the large room they were in. “It looks like his wife and daughter are going inside of there. I think it’s one of the restrooms.”

  “Well the senator will be alone for a while then.” Jax said. “When they parted from him, half of the crowd did as well so we should have a small opportunity now.”

  “Jason, I actually need to go to the restroom myself. Can you go with me?” She didn’t really need to go, but she figured that would be a great opportunity to possibly speak with the wife or daughter.

  “Okay but try to be as quick as you can, I don’t want to let Harrington slip through our fingers.”

  “I will.” The two of them walked towards the small door that the two women had entered. When Amour opened it, she found out that Jason was indeed correct. The small door led to a huge bathroom complete with a dressing and vanity area. When she stepped in, she stopped at one of the large mirrors on the wall to quickly give herself the once over and to make sure none of the steak she’d had for dinner was caught in her teeth. After about five minutes, Caroline stepped out of the vanity area and Beatrice stepped out of the commode area shortly after.

  Amour slid her tiny compact out of her purse and began to dab the sponge onto her face. It took her a while to think of something to say to them to start up a conversation, but she finally did. “That’s a lovely dress you’re wearing Mrs. Harrington.”

  Beatrice looked at Amour in the mirror and smiled. “Thank you my dear.”

  “Are you enjoying the party?” Caroline asked her.

  “Yes I am thank you.” She needed to think of something else to say, pronto. “So what is it like being a senator’s wife and daughter?” She knew that was a pretty lame question to ask, but it was all she could come up with.

  Caroline answered first. “Exhausting.” She chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong, it has its perks but it can be a bit nerve racking.”

  Amour laughed softly for a few seconds before realizing that Beatrice was staring at her through the mirror again. “Is something wrong?” she asked.

  Beatrice frowned and said. “You look very familiar. Do we know each other?”

  Amour knew exactly what was familiar about her. She wondered if Beatrice would ever put the puzzle together. She did look almost identical to Carly. “No, I doubt it.”

  “Alright, but I would’ve bet money that I knew you from somewhere.”

  “Mother you don’t know her!” Caroline exclaimed. “Now let’s go. We have press to deal with.”

  Caroline all but dragged her mother out of the bathroom. That was very strange. She clearly didn’t want Beatrice to ask Amour anymore questions. She did notice that Caroline was eyeing her through the mirror just as her mother was so maybe she knows something about her Beatrice that she doesn’t want accidently slipped out.

  * * *

  “Look at him smiling.” Jason said as he looked in Pierce Harrington’s direction. I can tell he’s a douche bag just by looking at him.”

  Jax laughed. “Ya think? He’s a politician, of course he is.” He then glanced in the direction of the bathroom door. “Why do women take so damn long in the bathroom? What the hell is she doing in there?”

  “There’s no telling. I’m sure she’ll be out soon because I saw the senator’s wife and daughter come out of there a few minutes ago.”

  “Good.”

  Jason’s cell rang in his pocket so he slid it out and held it up to his ear. “Hello?” He could tell someone was there but he couldn’t hear them so he stepped into the small hallway that housed the bathroom. “This is Jason Kincaid.”

  “Hello Mr. Kincaid, this is Officer Lewis with the Santa Monica Police Department. I’m calling you to let you know that we have further reviewed the footage from the Ocean View suites incident that you and Miss Graciette were involved in and you were cleared of any wrong doing in the case of the shooting.”

  “I know that.”

  “Yes of course sir. I also called you to let you know that ballistics came back on the bullet that was inside of the deceased maid in your room and it has concluded that the bullet found wasn’t a match for your gun. You will no longer be a suspect in that incident as well.”

  Of course Jason already knew all of this, but it was nice to hear the words and have the proof to back it up. “Thank you Officer.”

  “You’re welcome. You have a good night Mr. Kincaid.”

  Good. Now that that was over, he could finally put that whole incident behind him and focus on the task at hand. What the hell was Amour doing in there? What is it with women in the ladies room? He was about five seconds from going in there to get her when his cell rang again. Shit! Who the hell is this now? “Hello?”

  “Hello, may I speak to Jason Kincaid?” the soft female voice spoke on the other end.

  “This is Jason.”

  “Hi, this is Rachel Monroe. My mother told me that you wanted to talk to me about Mrs. Graciette.”

  Rachel Monroe…Crap! He’d forgotten all about her. “Yes! Thank you for calling me.”

  “No problem. I’m not too sure how I can help you though. I was only ten years old then.”

  “I know, but anything you can remember about that day will be very helpful to me.”

  She remained silent for a few seconds before speaking. “Well what I do remember is Mrs. Graciette yelling at someone in her house.”

  “Did you hear what they were saying?”

  “No I didn’t. I was across the street so I couldn’t make it out. They were just very loud that’s how I knew someone was in there with her.”

  “Did you see who it was?” he asked.

  “No sorry. My mom made me come in the house before whoever it was had left but I did talk to the woman that was parked outside of my house though.”

  “What woman was that?”

  “She was sitting in her car looking in the direction of Mrs. Graciette’s house with binoculars. It looked as if she was trying to look through her living room window or something.”

  “Did you know her?”

  “No. I only talked to her because I liked her car. She had one of those Chevy Camaros from the 70’s. It was red with a racing stripe and I thought it was cool.”

  “Can you remember anything else about her?”

  “I remember she had long jet black hair like that lady from the Adams Family except it wasn’t that long. Oh, and she had the coolest fuzzy dice hanging from her rear view mirror. I remember them well because I thought about how cool it would be to steal them and give them to my aunt Ang
ela for Christmas.”

  Jason frowned. “Your aunt Angela?”

  “Yeah, one of the dice had that name written on it and it’s also my aunt’s name so I wanted to steal them so I could give them to her but I chickened out and as I said, my mother had made me come in the house by then anyway. That’s about all I can remember about that day. I’m sorry.”

  “No that’s quite alright sweetheart. You were plenty of help to me. Thank you for calling me.”

  “No problem. If I think of anything else I’ll be sure to give you a call.”

  “Please do. You have a good night.”

  “Who was that?” Amour asked from behind Jason as he slid his cell back in his pants pocket.

  He gently grabbed Amour’s arm and led her to another isolated place in the large room. “That was Rachel Monroe.”

  He could tell she’d also forgotten about her because she frowned for a second. He could also tell when she’d remembered because her eyes widened. “Oh, what did she say?”

  “Angela was there.”

  “Where?”

  “At your mom’s house that day. Rachel told me that she saw her parked in front of her house in a 70’s model Camaro.”

  “My mother’s?”

  “No, her own house.”

  “How did she know it was Angela?”

  “She described her as having black hair and she saw her name written on some big dice that were hanging in her car.”

  “Oh my god! That’s why she talked so bad about my mother. Maybe she was in on all of this.”

  Jason looked around and then back at Amour. “Or maybe she did it.”

  “But why would she have wanted my mother dead?”

  “I don’t know, but my suspect list just got a little bit longer.”

  CHAPTER 33

  The few days leading up to the party were spent mostly with the two of them laying low and Jason following up on a few leads that Alex had given him without much success. But now they potentially had something. Angela...what could she possibly have to do with any of this? As far as Amour knew they were only co-workers and former friends. Why on earth would she want her mother dead? Did she actually kill her? What about Pierce Harrington? Pierce…the man that she was staring at across the room looking ridiculously smug and full of himself. Standing there, smiling for the camera and shaking hands. Then there’s Beatrice, she wasn’t smiling. As a matter of fact, she was looking rather tired. Could she have killed her? And what about Riley and Westfield? Did the two of them lie about what happened to cover up her murder? All of this was once again starting to make her sick to her stomach. Was it wrong for her to hate five people she didn’t even know? Maybe. But she couldn’t help it. She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn’t even realize Jason was behind her until he tapped her on the shoulder.

  “Hey…Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’m just ready to get this over with.”

  “Do you want me to go and talk to him alone?”

  There was no way she was backing out of this. “No, I’m fine. How are we going to get over there to talk to him?”

  “Cheryl just told his campaign manager that you hosted an online talk show or something about politics.”

  She chuckled. “What?”

  “I know, just go with it okay. All you have to do is act like a journalist or something and tell her that you want to ask Harrington a few questions and take a photo with him. He’s up for re-election so any publicity that’s not negative will be good for him.”

  “Do you think that’s going to work Jason?”

  “It depends on how hard you sell it honey.”

  “Why can’t you do it?”

  He looked at her with a cocked eyebrow. “Amour, I’m a six foot three inch man with muscles and tattoos. Does it look like spend my time interviewing politicians on the internet?”

  “I guess you have a point.”

  Jax quickly walked up to them. “Come on guys we don’t have very much time. Harrington will be leaving soon.”

  “We’re ready man,” Jason said.

  Amour collected her thoughts, took in a deep breath and walked up to the crowd of reporters and photographers that surrounded the senator with as much confidence as she could muster up. She pushed her way through the crowd and managed to get a spot in the front next to a short bald man holding a camera that smelled like he had put on a whole bottle of very cheap cologne. After the senator answered a few questions from the reporters around him, he suddenly started to walk off. No…where was he going? Next thing she knew, he was whisked away by three bodyguards and taken outside. Shit! Now what? Hell, what was she going to do anyway? Ask him if he murdered her mother right in front of all the paparazzi? Well if he did murder her, getting exposed would’ve served him right. Talk about bad luck. Even though she was pretty sure she’d get another opportunity, she couldn’t help but be disappointed.

  Jason walked up behind her after the crowed had thinned out and rubbed his palm on the back of her head. “It’s alright sweetheart. We’ll get a chance to talk to him don’t worry.”

  She shot him an angry look. “I’m not worried, I’m pissed!”

  “Don’t be. Come on, let’s go home.”

  As they made their way home, Amour explained to Jason what went on with Beatrice and Caroline in the ladies room at the party. He was fairly silent about the subject, she guessed because he was once again thinking of strategy. It seems he was always thinking. Sometimes so much it almost scared her. After about ten more minutes of “thinking” he finally spoke.

  “Is that all you got from the senator’s wife and daughter?”

  “Yeah…but it was strange though.”

  “What was strange?”

  “Caroline was acting kind of weird. She seemed to be in a hurry to get her mother out of the bathroom and away from me.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me.”

  “It doesn’t?”

  “No. After talking to Mrs. Pruitt and seeing the color of her hair I put two and two together when I first saw Mrs. Harrington.”

  “You seem to have come to the conclusion that she’s guilty.”

  He glanced at her and then back at the road. “Not one-hundred percent but pretty close.”

  She felt the same way but how they were going to prove it, she had no idea.

  * * *

  The next morning, Jason and Amour decided to pay the man that had attacked Amour a visit in the county jail. She didn’t want face him, so Jason left her behind in the visitor’s waiting room while he went inside. After doing some research, he found out the man’s name was Marcus Wright and he had a rap sheet as long as a football field. Jason sat at the small desk that housed the phone and stared into the glass window awaiting Marcus’ arrival. When he finally came out and sat down in front of him, Jason picked up the phone and smirked because he couldn’t believe such a pussy looking man had the nerve to be her attacker. He’d guessed that was probably why he attacked women. He probably couldn’t take a man on if his life depended on it.

  Marcus grabbed the phone receiver, placed it to his ear and looked up at Jason giving him a smug grin. “What the hell do you want? I have nothing to say to you!”

  Jason glanced away for a couple of seconds and then looked back up at him, this time with no expression. “Look you asshole, I don’t have time for all of your shit! I’m going to ask you questions and you’re gonna answer them. Got it?”

  Marcus scowled. “And why should I do that?”

  “Because I have friends in here that will see to it that you get your ass kicked on a daily basis if you don’t. And by ass kicked I mean shanked several times and don’t think the guards in here will give a damn about some rapist getting the shit beat out of him because they don’t. So unless you want to today to be the last day you’ll be able to digest solid foods then I’d suggest you cooperate. As I told you on the phone, you have no idea what I’m capable of either.”

  Marcus looked as if he’d seen
a ghost. He stared at Jason for a few seconds and the spoke. “W…What do you want to know?”

  Jason looked at him like he was the dumbest person on earth. “What do you think I wanna know? Who are you working for?”

  “I can’t tell you that.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because If I do, they’ll be much more merciless on me than you ever could. I do wanna get out of this hell hole alive one day.”

  Jason leaned in closer to the glass and stared him in the face. “And if you don’t tell me who it is now, you will be laying in a body bag by the end of the day. Take your pick. Considering the fact that you just got your ass kicked by a girl whose hands were all tied up, I’m sure the men in here won’t have a problem doing their business with you so it should be an easy decision for you.”

  Marcus scowled at Jason for making that comment, but he didn’t acknowledge it. “If I tell you can you promise me that they won’t find out?”

  “You just tried to rape and kill my girlfriend; I’m not promising your ass anything!”

  He smiled. “That chick’s your bitch?”

  As much as Jason felt like punching a hole straight through the glass and strangling this jerk, he kept his composure. “You have ten seconds to start talking.”

  “Ok man! I don’t know exactly who the brain behind the whole operation is. I was just following orders from Armando.”

  “Who the fuck is that?”

  “I don’t know; he just goes by that name. He told me that his boss wanted the blonde chick dead so I just did what I was told.”

  “Who is his boss?”

  “Are you deaf man? I told you I don’t know. I did hear him on the phone talking to a female.”