She helped him get his leg back up on the bed. Dylan came in to check on them.
“Did you see her? She was great!” Dylan smiled at her. “It looks like our hit man, whichever brother he is, will live to stand trial.”
“It’s Travis, we know that for sure now. Willie wanted to be the hit man but Travis was our real guy. Frank’s dog confirmed it before the DNA results came in. Willie died that day out on Old Homestead Road. Willie had an identifying scar and Radar hit on his scent. Travis was also there that day. He hid in the bushes across the street. He had been hired to kill Willie, his own brother. Travis’ bullet is the one that took Willie out…Jed thought he had done it and that Willie had joined forces with him. Ballistics told us a different story, and the facts now back it up. It wasn’t Jed’s gun that killed Willie, it was Travis’ gun. Jed would never have willingly joined forces with Travis, there was bad blood between them. If Mabry hadn’t killed Jed first, Travis would have killed Jed when he was done using him.” They talked for a little while more, and Jessie fell asleep in the chair. Matt had a nurse bring in a blanket and pillow. He let her sleep and watched her most of the night.
****
Tomorrow, he was going home. Matt’s youngest brother, Jason, was coming to help him out for a few weeks. He wasn’t going to let him within ten feet of her. Jason was in that stage where every girl was a challenge, another notch in his belt. Matt frowned when Jason walked in early in the morning, with Jessie still sleeping in the chair.
“Who’s that?” He eyed her.
“That, brother, is my girl, which means hands off.” Matt grinned at him. “She saved my life last night, and I’m letting her sleep so keep your voice down.”
“Too late.” Jason walked toward Jessie as she sat up and stretched her cramped muscles. “I’m Matt’s brother Jason.” He grinned at her. “Why settle for the old man when you can have a younger version?”
“As tempting as that sounds, I think I’ll let you two settle this in your own way. Keep in touch, Matt.” She walked over to the bed, gave Matt a kiss, and walked out.
Matt looked at his brother. “See? I told you, she’s my girl.”
“She’s too fine for the likes of you.” He chuckled.
“You aren’t telling me anything I don’t know already.”
“How do we break you out of here, old man?”
“He’ll leave when I sign his discharge papers and not a minute sooner. Why don’t you go get some coffee, pup?” Dr. Brown walked in the room in his surgical scrubs. “I’ll give your brother his check-up! Then we’ll talk about his release.” He smiled at Jason.
By the time Jason got back to the room, the doctor had discharged Matt. He was dressed and had his doctor’s final instructions and paperwork. He wanted to get back to work as soon as possible and follow this case through to the end. He had no clue when Jessie left that morning he wouldn’t see her for several weeks.
He was so busy, with work and rehab on his leg that all he could do was talk on the phone with her and fall exhausted into bed each night. He had a friend and his brother working on a surprise for her while he supervised them. She had stopped by a couple of times, once with flowers, once with homemade chocolate chip cookies—his favorite—and a few kisses.
Chapter 40
Jessie looked at her reflection in the mirror one last time. She was finally going to see Matt tonight. Either he had been busy with the reports, court appearances, or she had been busy with showers and story deadlines. At least he would be at Molly’s rehearsal and dinner. Maybe she had taken too long to come around, and he had grown tired of waiting. She scrunched her face.
She walked over to the Inn, buttoning her coat. It definitely felt like snow wasn’t too far off. Katie had insisted that they drive together, and she was somewhat glad. If Matt was upset or something, she could always have Katie bring her home. She went in the kitchen door and saw Katie sitting at the small desk. “Are you ready?”
“I am. Did I tell you that Jeremy will be coming for the wedding tomorrow? I’ll have a date tomorrow. Can you believe it? I hate to go to weddings like a pathetic dateless bridesmaid.” Katie smiled. “Besides you know what I think about Jeremy.” She fluttered her eyelashes. “I’m pretty gone on him. I’ve almost convinced him to come and live here.”
“I know.” She smiled. “He talks about it a lot when he calls.”
“I’m glad he’s talking about it with you, too. That means he’s serious and not just being nice to me.” Katie opened the door, and Jessie followed her.
By the time they got to the church, Jessie had worked herself into a state. She didn’t know what to expect until she walked through the door and saw the way Matt was looking at her.
“It’s been way too long since I’ve seen you.” He met her halfway, walking with a slight limp and took her hand. “I finally got rid of Jason and finished all the paperwork from the case. You can’t imagine how much I’ve missed seeing you.” He flung his arm around her shoulder and drew her into his side.
“What?” She looked at him, moisture filling her eyes.
“It killed me to stay away so long, but every spare moment I had was taken up with court appearances and paperwork.” He paused. His thumb stroked her hand. “I have a surprise for you.” He turned as the Pastor called for the groomsmen to take their places. “We’ll talk at dinner. You’re with me.” He walked to the front of the church.
When the rehearsal was over, he grabbed her hand and walked with her out to the parking lot. He had parked her car under the lights so she could see it. “What do you think? Looks great doesn’t it?” He gave her a lopsided grin. “Jason, my friend Chris who does body work, and I spent all our spare time restoring it. Actually, I supervised, but I was there. I wanted to surprise you tonight.”
She started to cry as she looked at her car. “It looks great.” She never took her eyes off him as he took her around the car telling her everything they had done.
He opened the door for her and closed it after she got in. “One last drive and the keys are back in your safe little hands.”
“Thanks, you had to have really worked around the clock to get it finished so fast.”
“You know me, I cracked the whip, and they did most of the work. It was therapy. There were so many times that I wanted to punch those guys in the face for what they did to those kids. This is how I punched them. It will take those kids a while to be normal again and to live without fear—if ever.”
“So what has happened the past few days since we last talked?” She watched his handsome profile.
“Before we talk about that, I’m going to collect something you owe me.”
“Oh, yeah, what’s that?”
“Our second date. Tomorrow night it’s you, a wedding, and me. How’s that sound?” He smiled at her. “You’ve got to do it, you owe me.”
“I don’t know about that.” She smiled at him. “After all, I did save your life.”
“I figured you might say that so that’s why I had your car fixed. So you still owe me.”
“I guess since you put it that way, sure, we’re on.” She glanced flirtatiously over her shoulder at him. “You might have to work to get a third, though.”
“No way. You’ll be begging me to take you out.” He laughed at her expression. They didn’t have much time to talk at dinner, so he drove her home. He parked her car and turned to look at her as he handed her the keys.
“I went to see the Adelsons the other day, but Sammy had been discharged. What happened with them? I had just missed seeing them,” Jessie asked.
“Sammy was given probation because he took a plea deal. He’ll testify for the state. Steve Murphy hired him to take the fall. He knew very little about the operations over all.”
“I’m happy to hear he won’t be going to prison.”
“He won’t if he keeps his nose clean and stays out of trouble. Lindsey will be good for him there.” Matt took off his seatbelt.
“Did Linds
ey have her baby yet?”
“Sammy was with Lindsey when she gave birth to their daughter.” He opened the door and walked around to open hers. “She looks a lot like her mother. They named her Jessica Lynn.”
“That’s so nice,” she sniffed. “I’m glad they’ll be a family.” Tears rolled down her cheeks, he handed her a tissue.
He walked with her to the door, his limp a little more noticeable, and unlocked it. He helped her remove her coat and walked over to the sofa, holding her hand. He sat down and pulled her into his lap. “Now I’m going to tell you everything, and then I’m going to kiss you breathless and be back here tomorrow promptly at two to pick you up.” He looked at her. “I would start with the kiss which is what I’d prefer, but I’d never get around to telling you anything. And tomorrow we aren’t going to talk shop at all.”
“Anything you say.” Her eyes softened as she held his gaze.
He cleared his throat. “Okay, this is the short version. You know about our six high school friends. Add to them Steve Murphy, Travis, and now we know Willie, too. Brinkman and Steve met up with Willie at a dinner party and offered him a staff position in Brinkman’s New York office. He was smart and great with a computer. Willie blackmailed his way into a partnership at the store, holding his knowledge over their head. Brinkman was one of the top guys and already into trafficking, along with Steve and the others. They knew Travis and Willie were brothers. And though Brinkman was afraid of the Bookers, he needed someone to control Steve who was out of control with his anger.” He felt her shiver and held her tighter.
“How did Mabry get involved?”
“He was one of the nameless guys from Evansville. He was friends with Jed and went to college with Willie. They all had some connection through high school or college. Even Brinkman did. He was a senior at Rocky Pointe High when the others were freshmen. The strangest thing of all is the one guy who we thought might talk, Mike Pearson. He got them all into it. As sick as this is, he preferred children. I know you understand. He went on a several trips to South America, across country, and overseas. A connection informed him about the demand for American children emerging in several markets and the money that was easy to make. He lay low because of all his travels, but he was the richest of them all. He found the markets. Brinkman and Murphy already owned the store, which became a perfect front and a place to collect addresses for families with children. Pearson convinced them about the ease with which they could all be rich. Mabry and Willie covered the tracks with the computer, and Travis took out anyone they needed to eliminate. It was an entirely smooth operation until recently, when Lutz messed up. Their computer gave us lots of valuable information, the names of children, locations of porn-rings and people waiting to buy children. The FBI has several sting operations ongoing.” He smiled at her, pulling her closer. “Now, sweetheart, I’m going to make good on my promise.” He bent his head to kiss her. She turned her head and he got a mouth full of hair.
“Not so fast. I have a couple of questions. Why did they use that bomb?”
“Johnson messed up. He placed it in the wrong place. His improvisation cost lives. Travis was only there to take out Brinkman’s wife and Steve. Brinkman’s wife was asking too many questions from what I understand. Booker always uses a diversion, but he never killed anyone unless the money was in his hands for a hit. Booker was angry, and Jed would have been killed eventually.”
“Why? How could they do it? I don’t get it. Unlike with the Harvest Club who thought they were doing it for good, there was nothing good about taking kids from their families.” Her brow creased as she crinkled her nose.
“We may never know all the whys, but money, and the power of being in a group of friends doing the same thing is a strong pull.”
“What a waste.” She tilted her head up and gazed into his eyes.
He didn’t need any other invitation. He kissed her. This was home to him.
****
He was there promptly at two, looking handsome in his wedding tuxedo. Her dress was red, and the other girls each had on different color of a New England fall. The wedding was beautiful. Molly was a glowing bride. The day flew by. The dinner was eaten, the toasts given, the first dances danced and the cake cut. She felt there was something different about him today. Her breath caught when he looked at her. The air crackled with excitement around him. The music started to play, the dance floor was open to everyone, and he stood, holding out his hand.
“Are you sure your leg can handle it?”
He nodded and grinned. “I worked hard for the past three weeks in rehab to have this one dance with you.” He walked with her to the dance floor, and he pulled her in close. “It has to be a slow one I’m afraid, with not much movement, but I like them best.”
She gazed into his eyes. “Me, too.”
“I asked them to play this song. They agreed because Kenny requested it too. The last time we danced to this song, gunfire interrupted the moment. Let’s finish our dance, sweetheart, they’re playing our song. It says it all for me, Jess.” Etta Jones’ voice came through the system. “At last my true love has come along. My lonely days are gone and life is like a song.” The lyrics were weaving their magic. He turned her and brought her close once again.
“It was like that for me, Jess, the first night I looked at you, I knew I was home. You smiled and you cast a spell over me. I was lost to the magic of your smile.” They danced close, her head resting on his shoulder, lost in the moment. He whispered the last words of the song in her ear. “For you are mine at last.”
She pulled his head down and brushed her lips across his. “Casting a spell indeed…” She smiled, the music had ended, but she didn’t move.
He grinned. His smile faded, replaced by a look she had never seen before. He gently lifted her chin and gazed into her eyes. “Jessica Lynn Reynolds, I love you.” His body tensed. They stood motionless.
She smiled, tracing his lips with her finger. “That’s Jess to you.” She leaned closer to him and whispered, “I love you, too.” He shuddered and his body relaxed.
A word about the author…
Iona Morrison is the author of The Harvest Club, the first book in A Blue Cove Mystery series.
For the research on Not for Sale (the second book in the series), she got to watch a team of bloodhounds working a track. The dogs did an amazing job and so did their handlers.
http://www.ionamorrison.com
Thank you for purchasing
this publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Not for Sale Page 28