“Holy shit. You and Sean Burke are back together,” Nate said, a silly grin on his face.
“So not happening. Too much time has passed. We’ve changed a lot in eight years. And I have a daughter who doesn’t like him. He has a career in LA, a city I detest. It’s impossible, so don’t even go there, big brother.”
“Listen, baby girl, you got too much shit goin’ on in your life right now to make such an important decision. Don’t slam the door shut just yet,” Uncle Chad advised. “Give it some time.”
“Sure,” Jessie said, forcing a smile. She couldn’t forget the look on Callie’s face when she thought Mr. Sean might be babysitting her. Sheer terror came to mind.
The conference room door swung open. All three heads turned.
Mr. Swanson handed Jessie a bottle of water and proceeded to the head of the table with a folder in his other hand. His expression was as grim as Sean’s had been that morning.
“Good afternoon. Thank you for coming on such short notice. Sorry to keep you waiting, but I had a minor fire to put out.” His gaze moved slowly around the table. “This is a delicate matter, and most uncomfortable for me. Please forgive any lack of objectivity on my part, but I feel personally, not just legally, involved in this situation.”
Jessie snuck a quick glance at her brother and uncle. They appeared as bewildered as she was.
Mr. Swanson opened the file and held up three envelopes. “I think a little background would be helpful before I give these to you.” Carefully, deliberately, he laid them one at a time on the table in front of him. “You may not remember that I helped Molly with the legal paperwork after David passed away. We became…very good friends. When she started to recover from the shock and grief, we even dated a few times, but it was quickly obvious she wasn’t as attracted to me as I was to her. Once Hal Freeman burst onto the scene, I wasn’t surprised that our relationship came to a screeching halt. When Molly told me she and Hal were getting married, she explained that she couldn’t see a future for us because I would always remind her of David’s death. Despite that unfortunate connection, we did manage to remain friends all these years.”
Jessie stole a glance at Nate. His lips were pressed in a thin line. Did he remember Mr. Swanson dating their mother? Had he been disappointed when Hal Freeman won the competition for her heart?
The attorney cleared his throat. “After Hal and Molly had been married about a year, she came to my office unexpectedly. She was…completely distraught. She told me something had happened, and she was thinking of divorcing Hal—”
“Divorcing him?” Uncle Chad interrupted. “I don’t remember that.”
Mr. Swanson shrugged. “I don’t know if Molly ever told another soul, Mr. Brown, so don’t be hurt.”
“Did the bastard cheat on her?” Chad asked.
Jessie cringed, not sure she really wanted to know.
“Molly never told me what happened.”
“Nate, did you know anything about this?” their uncle asked.
All color had drained from her brother’s face. He stared straight ahead as if lost in his own thoughts.
“Nate?” Chad touched his arm.
He jerked and glanced around, clearly embarrassed. “What?”
“You were only six, but do you remember any of this?”
His gaze dropped to his hands. “Nope. I was…too young.”
“I thought Molly had come for me to write up a trial separation agreement, but she hadn’t. Instead she gave me these envelopes. As you can see, she sealed them with red wax. They’ve remained in my safe for the past twenty-five years.”
“What the hell are they?” Nate’s voice sounded strained, his tone anxious.
“I don’t know.”
“Her will?” Chad asked.
“Maybe, but I don’t think so. I’d written new wills for her and Hal after they married. They were already in my files when she gave me these.” He tapped each envelope in turn. “If these are a codicil to that earlier will, it’s been superseded by their recent living trust anyway.”
Foreboding sat on Jessie’s chest like an elephant. “Why are you giving them to us now? If they’re related to her will, superseded or not, aren’t you jumping to a terrible conclusion? We haven’t given up hope.”
Mr. Swanson rubbed his forehead. “This is the delicate part because it requires me to make a judgment about the current situation.”
“What judgment?” Chad said, frowning and obviously mystified.
“Molly’s instructions were to give you these only in the case of”—he gulped—“her death or disappearance under suspicious circumstances.”
Jessie gasped. Nate and Chad swore under their breath.
“As you’ll see, she even wrote that on the envelopes.” The lawyer stood up, his expression stern. He handed each of them an envelope. “Remember, Molly wrote these when you were twenty-five years younger. Your age at that time could’ve affected her perspective.” He sighed heavily. “I hope I’m doing the right thing. I’ll give you some privacy. Stay as long as you like. If you have any questions, let me know. Although I’m not sure I have any answers.” He left the conference room, closing the door quietly behind him.
Silence draped the remaining occupants like a shroud.
Jessie dropped the envelope on the table. The words in her mother’s handwriting stared back at her: To be given to my daughter, Jessica, in the event of my death or disappearance under suspicious circumstances. If she is under thirteen, please have my brother, Chad Brown, or my attorney, Steve Swanson, read it first and explain it—gently—to her.
Her throat constricted until it was unbearably tight. Her insides trembled. Oh God, oh God, oh God. What could’ve been so terrible for her mother to write something like this? Surely a husband’s infidelity didn’t produce concern for one’s life. Or did it? Novels and movies portrayed love-triangle murders, but in real life, how often did it happen? Especially so many years later.
Mr. Swanson’s strange comment on Saturday—How did she know—suddenly resurfaced and became crystal clear. Upon first hearing of Molly Freeman’s disappearance, he had remembered the envelopes with the odd instructions entrusted to him two decades earlier.
The sound of ripping paper raised her gaze. Nate was the first to open his envelope. His eyes moved across the paper, widening, glaring. Transfixed, she watched his ashen complexion regain color, progressing past normal to redden with…what? Embarrassment? Rage?
“Mom didn’t know. The fucker lied to me,” he mumbled almost incoherently. His gaze flicked to Jessie and then darted away as though humiliated by his words…or something else.
She watched Uncle Chad almost reverently break the wax seal, remove the sheets of stationery, and begin to read. He stilled. His eyes shifted to Jessie for a second before returning to his sister’s words.
Finally, after drawing a fortifying breath, she opened her envelope.
My dearest Jessie,
I don’t know how to begin because I don’t know how old you’ll be when, if ever, this envelope is opened. I see my four-year-old baby girl today and can only imagine the beautiful woman you’ll become.
The opening of this envelope means something has happened to me. Hopefully, I’m just feeling paranoid after what I discovered about your stepdad, but I’ve never suffered such a shock in my life. Some days, I worry that I don’t really know the man.
My life-changing discovery occurred a month ago. Hal was babysitting you while I ran errands. I started feeling ill and came home early. After searching the house and property, I found both of you down in the bomb shelter.
Jessie frowned. “Bomb shelter? What bomb shelter?” she murmured. She shook her head in disbelief and continued reading.
What I saw was so horrible that I can hardly put it into words. But you must know. You were asleep on a red silk sheet. You were naked and had been posed in a suggestive manner. Hal was taking pictures of you.
“Oh God! Oh Mom. No, no, no,” Jessie excla
imed, and dropped the pages on the table. Bile rose in her throat.
When she looked up, Nate and Uncle Chad stared at her, their eyes filled with sympathy and their expressions angry. Their letters must have told the same story.
Tears filled her eyes. Outrage swelled inside. She splayed her hand over her mouth to restrain an eruption of disbelief, disgust, and despair. Her mind struggled to accept that her stepdad had taken horrible pictures of her. And why had her mother allowed the despicable man to remain part of their lives? Shock and disgust gave way to the need to comprehend. With trembling fingers, she lifted the letter.
I screamed and grabbed you. Never before had I experienced such rage. My heart is pounding as I remember the panic I felt as I ran into the house with you limp in my arms.
Hal pleaded with me to let him explain before I called the police. I’d never seen him so upset, and he actually frightened me until he started crying. He told me that his photography business was failing. His male pride and confidence had been crushed. Fearing his new family would hate him if they ended up on welfare, he made the gut-wrenching decision to raise money by selling child pornography. How the horrid idea even came to him, I can’t fathom. He swore this was the only time he’d taken pictures of you. He promised to destroy the film and never do it again if I could find it in my heart to forgive him.
I don’t know if I can.
I am still very angry, but I am also torn. On one hand, I can’t stand the sight of the man, much less treat him as my husband. On the other, the thought of you and Nate losing a father for the second time rips my heart apart. And I have to admit, before this unspeakable act, Hal had worked very hard to earn his role as your daddy.
I’m so upset that I can hardly think straight. I’m going to wait another month before I decide whether to divorce him. I pray I make the right decision, my darling daughter, because I would never forgive myself if any harm came to you in the future. As I told Hal, if he ever does this again, I’ll turn him in to the police or kill him.
The words if he ever does this again pulled Jessie’s gaze back like a magnet.
Then she rocketed out of the chair. “Callie! Oh God, not Callie.”
* * *
Sean massaged his temples, hoping to ease the headache threatening to make his head explode. His eyes burned from staring at computer screens for several hours. Stiffness in his neck and back made it impossible to get comfortable even in the large leather executive chair.
“Take a break, Burke,” Stone said, as if reading Sean’s mind.
“Can’t take one until we catch one.”
Jake grunted. “I’m glad you haven’t been holding your breath for one or you’d be dead by now.”
Sean groaned as he stood. He stretched and flexed until his muscles relaxed enough to move easier. His mind went to Jessie, longing to call her. Was she safe? Had she finished working with the temp at her office? Had she gotten a restraining order on Drake? Where was she now?
The weight of the phone in his pocket tempted him, but he resisted. He shouldn’t call. Not until he had some concrete news.
One of Stone’s burner phones rang. Both men stared at it for a moment before the ex-spook grabbed it.
“Talk to me, Salami. Wait a minute. You mind if I put you on speaker? The other guy”—Jake hesitated, sliding a sideways glance at Sean—“who’s working this with me is here. Bur…” He paused again. “Name’s…Badge, and he’s highly invested in this.”
Several tense seconds passed.
“Cool,” Jake said. He pushed a button and set the phone on the desk. “Shoot.”
Another few seconds ticked off before a gravelly voice spoke. “The password is RAU259078. You’re not gonna like what’s stored on that drive.” The phone went dead.
Sean blinked. “Not much of a talker.”
“Nope. But that was short even for Salami. I thought he’d have more to tell us, but he’s probably pissed I let you hear his voice.”
He shrugged. “Like I’m gonna track him down or something. Gimme a break.”
“Hey, don’t second-guess him. In our business, you never know.”
“Gotcha.” He studied the password Jake had jotted on a piece of paper. “You know what that looks like?”
“Yeah. Initials and a prisoner ID number. We should be able to match up the initials against the list of escapees I accumulated. Maybe we won’t need the FBI’s help after all.”
“Yeah, but first let’s see what the hell is on Hallelujah’s drive.”
Jake removed a flash drive marked AVOCADO from the hidden safe.
“What’s with all the food names for files and stuff?” Sean asked.
“Avocado doesn’t sound like something important, does it?”
“Well…uh…not really.”
“See. It works.”
The password prompt appeared after he plugged the device into the laptop. He typed in the letters and numbers Salami had provided. Folders, labeled by gender and a number, filled the screen.
Both men glared at the screen.
“Fuck,” Sean muttered.
“Fuck,” Stone agreed.
Sean’s gut twisted into a knot. Jerkily, he pointed to the icon identified as “Girls 4.”
“You sure?” his friend asked.
He nodded once.
Stone clicked on the icon. Several folders with girls’ names appeared.
Sean’s heartbeat pounded in his ears. He gulped, pointed again.
Jake opened the Callie folder. They stared at pictures of Jess’s daughter. She was naked in all of them.
“Shit.” Sean scrunched his eyes shut. “Go back.”
After the click of the mouse, he opened his eyes. He scanned the screen of names. The knot in his gut tightened. He indicated another file.
Stone sent him a questioning look.
“Open it, damn it,” he snapped.
His breath caught at the sight of another naked little girl. Her brown hair fanned across the red silk sheet where she lay. In others, the child was sleeping on a white bearskin rug. “Son of a bitch,” he yelled. He twisted around and pounded his fist on the wall but then stopped. Spinning back, he said, “Open Boys…uh…six.”
A few clicks later, Sean and Jake stared at pictures of naked six-year-old Nate Freeman. Some of the horrible pictures included his sister. Little Jessie always appeared to be asleep, but Nate was definitely awake.
“Goddamn bastard. He was in on it,” Sean seethed. He slammed his fist into the wall again.
Jake stood up and grabbed Sean by the shoulders. “Listen, Burke, the kid was only six. Give him the benefit of the doubt. Who knows what coercion Hal could’ve been using on him,” he said calmly, reasonably.
But Sean didn’t want to listen to the voice of reason.
“Not that it makes a fucking bit of difference, but I damn well intend to find out.” He stomped to the door and waited until Stone opened it with the remote. “I gotta warn Jess about Hal and Nate. Call me when you figure out who the hell RAU is and what he was locked up for. Although I think we already know.”
Chapter 16
I’m driving,” Nate announced, catching up to his sister outside the office building.
Jessie started when he grabbed the keys from her hand, but she never slowed her racing footsteps. “But your car—”
“I don’t give a shit about my car. I’ll pick it up later. You’re too upset to drive.”
She couldn’t argue with that. She was trembling all over, and her nerves felt ready to spark an explosion. Just when she thought her life couldn’t get any worse, it did. And this time it might be directly hurting her daughter.
As Nate peeled out of the parking space with Uncle Chad close behind, Jessie covered her eyes with her hand and drew slow, deep breaths. How could this be happening? How could her mother have kept such a horrid, dark secret all these years? Oh, Mom, how could you? She was guilty of a more serious deception than Hal. Wait a minute. Mom wasn’t taking pictures of
me. Dad was. Her mother was just trying to hold a fragile new family together. Even if it meant giving a man who’d done a terrible thing a second chance.
Jessie lowered her hand from her face. “Mom’s letter to you explained what she’d caught Dad doing with me, right?”
A muscle in Nate’s jaw twitched. His Adam’s apple bobbed with three quick gulps.
“Yeah,” he said, keeping his eyes on the road.
“Obviously, she decided not to divorce Hal, so she must’ve believed he just made one horrendous mistake to raise money. After that one time, nothing’s happened again in all these years. Maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe I should trust Mom’s judgment.”
“Maybe Mom didn’t know everything,” he spat.
She cocked her head. “What do you mean?”
After a moment, he shook his head. “Forget it.”
Jessie studied her brother. Was he hiding something, too? Was everyone in her family capable of deception?
“Speaking of not knowing everything, do you know Dad’s full name?” she asked.
He turned to her with a puzzled expression. “You mean more than Hal Freeman?”
“Yes.”
He arched his eyebrows. “Can’t say I do. Don’t remember ever hearing a middle name.”
“His full name is Hallelujah Ima Freeman.”
Nate snorted. “You’re kidding.”
“Totally serious.”
“How do you know?”
“When Mom first disappeared, Sean did some investigating on Dad—”
“I thought I was his only suspect.”
Jessie scowled. “No. He was following the closest-male theory, looking at everyone in that category. Anyway, I don’t know exactly how he found out, but he says it’s definitely Dad’s name.”
“Fucking stupid name, if you ask me. Makes me think of slaves or”—he turned to her, his eyes widening—“convicts.”
“Exactly. And adding to the weirdness, apparently Sean can’t find any evidence of Hallelujah’s existence earlier than a year before he married Mom.”
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