He looked around and sighed. He did know, and there was no doubt in his mind Michael Shroud was responsible.
He leaned down and stared at Amy’s still, lifeless body. His heart ached for this young girl and all she’d been through.
Why? Why hadn’t she allowed Jessica to help her?
* * *
He stopped by his apartment to grab the Michael Shroud case file. He’d brought it home to study even though Bill had nixed any further prosecution. That would change now. No one else had believed it merited prosecuting. Shroud had proved them all wrong.
Andrew arrived at the police station and was ushered into an interrogation room. Through the two-way mirror he saw Michael Shroud on the other side being grilled by one of the police detectives.
Andrew signed the necessary papers to hold him on murder charges. Tomorrow morning he would formally file the notice of intent to prosecute.
Michael Shroud would pay for what he’d done to Amy Vance, but this shouldn’t have happened. She should have been protected before it turned to murder.
The image of her still, lifeless body wouldn’t leave Andrew. He was tired of men like Shroud getting away with anything and everything, using their strength and power to terrorize and murder women.
His phone beeped indicating he had a text message. His gut clenched when he saw Sarah’s number on the screen.
Help me, Andrew. I’m in trouble.
Despite what she’d done by leaving with Robert and the attack on Jessica, she was still his sister and he needed to know she was safe. He texted her back.
Where are you?
Dalton Lake. Please come get me. I’m alone and I’m scared.
Dalton Lake? A good hour’s drive. How had she gotten there?
Where’s Robert?
Gone. I’m alone. Please come get me.
His mind switched gears, shifting from Amy and Shroud to Sarah and Robert. How could Sarah have gone back to him after all he’d done? After all Jessica had done to help her? He didn’t understand her decision, but after all he’d seen, he couldn’t give up on her. He wouldn’t give up on her. He had to try to help her whether she wanted it or not...before she suffered the same fate as Amy.
He was pulled. He needed to go check on Sarah, but he couldn’t leave Jessica alone at the hospital. He phoned the hospital room and Mia answered.
“Andrew, don’t worry. I’ll stay with her,” she said once Andrew explained the situation. “Besides, the pain medicine is making her sleep. You’ll probably be back before she even wakes up.”
He felt better knowing Mia was there with her and that she wouldn’t wake up to an empty room. And besides, she was safe while Sarah might still be in trouble if Robert returned. He knew what Jessica would want him to do.
He had to go get Sarah.
“Tell her I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
* * *
Andrew hesitated when he saw Robert’s white pickup parked by a cluster of trees. The driver’s door was standing open. He parked beside it, got out and scanned the area. Sarah’s message had said Robert was gone. Had she stolen his truck and fled out here? Or was Robert lying in wait for him?
He didn’t see anyone else around so he walked over to the truck’s open door and peered inside.
Nothing.
He touched the hood of the truck. It was still warm.
He moved toward the trees and softly called her name. “Sarah? Sarah, where are you? It’s Andrew.”
He heard rustling in the trees ahead of him so he moved that way. “Sarah? Is that you?”
A man stepped out from behind a tree and swung at him with something hard and metallic. Pain burst through his head and Andrew fell. His gaze grew blurry and he saw a man approach him.
Andrew held out his hand trying to steady his gaze. The man didn’t look familiar. Was this a misunderstanding? Where was Sarah?
“Wait, I’m only looking for my sister.”
The man leaped his way and punched him again.
Andrew fell to the ground. “I don’t know you, man. I don’t know what you want.”
He grabbed Andrew by the shirt and yanked him up. “What I want, Counselor, is you out the picture.”
“Wait! Who are you?”
“Tell Jess I’m coming for her next. She can’t escape from me. She’s mine and she always will be.”
He punched Andrew again and this time everything went black.
* * *
Andrew woke up in his car, his head throbbing and his vision fuzzy. He glanced around at the controls, at first unable to recall what had happened or how he’d gotten into his car. The last thing he remembered was some hulk beating the tar out of him. And he’d said something about Jessica, something about coming after Jessica next.
His mind went on full alert. Jessica was in danger.
He felt around for his keys, finding them on the console. He shoved the key into the ignition and jerked the car into Reverse.
He had to get back to Jessica. He had to warn her about this guy coming after her. He searched for his phone but couldn’t find it. Where had he had it last? Had he taken it out of the car when he’d gone looking for Sarah?
Sarah!
What had happened to his sister? Why hadn’t she been there?
He slammed on the brakes and shifted into Park. He had to find his phone. It had to be in the car somewhere. He felt under the seats and dug through the console. Where could it be? Had it slipped from his pocket when that man attacked him?
He glanced around at the scenery and realized he was no longer at Dalton Lake. How had he gotten back into his car? And why didn’t he remember driving here?
He reached under the passenger’s seat still searching for his phone. Bingo! He made contact with a solid object, grabbed hold and pulled it out then dropped it on the seat.
A knife.
A knife with blood on it.
A bloody knife in his car. This wasn’t good.
Over the pounding of his heart and his head, he heard the distinct sound of sirens growing closer. A moment later, five police cars surrounded his vehicle and they jumped out, weapons drawn and aimed right at him.
“Put your hands where we can see them, Jennings!”
I want you out of the picture, Counselor.
Tell Jess I’m coming for her next.
Was this the man’s plan all along? To have him surrounded by police in the hopes he would be shot and killed?
He’d watched this episode play out multiple times. The men on the force were trained to take all precautions to keep from using lethal force, and he wasn’t going to give them any reason to have to.
He opened the door, raised his hands where they could be clearly seen and stepped away from his car as commanded.
Two officers ran at him, shoving him to the ground with a knee to the back, yanking his hands behind him and cuffing him.
“Andrew Jennings, you’re under arrest for murder. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney...”
As another officer bagged the bloody knife that now contained his fingerprints, Andrew briefly wondered who it was he had supposedly killed.
* * *
Jessica strained to remember the attack. There was something important she’d forgotten. She was certain of it. Why couldn’t she put her finger on what it was?
“How are you?”
Jessica jumped at Margo’s question. She hadn’t seen Margo enter the room.
“It’s about time. I’ve been calling both you and Andrew for hours.” Margo glanced around. “Where is Andrew? I thought he was coming back up here.”
“I don’t know. He was gone when I woke up. Mia said he called and had an errand to run.”
Jessica smiled.
“Admit it. You like him.”
“Do not.”
“Do, too. You like Andrew.”
Margo shot her a look. “Yeah, well, you love him.”
Jessica’s breath caught. Love was such a strong word. How did she even know? There was a time when she’d thought she loved Mitch. “I do not love him.” Yet hadn’t she thought differently when Robert and Sarah had broken into her house, when she’d faced the possibility of never seeing him again?
“Yeah you do. I can tell.” Margo’s phone buzzed at her hip and she grabbed it and looked at the screen, a frown forming on her face.
“What’s wrong?”
“I know where Andrew is.” Margo sighed. “Apparently, your boyfriend just murdered Robert Young.”
TEN
Staying at the hospital hadn’t been an option. She wasn’t going to sit there while someone she cared for was in trouble. Margo must have seen the determination in her face because she didn’t protest. Instead, she instructed the nurse to bring the papers for Jessica to leave against medical advice then she grabbed Jessica’s bag and pulled the car around.
“The sheriff’s office made the arrest,” Margo explained once they were in the car and on their way. “He’s being held there.”
“Can you get us in to see him?”
Margo hesitated. “Are you sure you want to see him?”
“Of course I want to see him. He didn’t do this. I know he didn’t. He’s a good man.”
Margo looked skeptical, but Jessica knew it in her heart. Andrew wasn’t a violent person. It broke her heart to have people think he could be like one of those men that surrounded her every day. He was better than that. He was a good, kind Christian man with nothing in his heart but protecting his sister.
Her mind went straight to Dean. He too had been a good man, but she’d seen the hatred in his eyes when he talked about Mitch. She saw that same depth of anger sometimes in Andrew’s face. Was it possible he’d finally snapped and taken matters into his own hands as Margo suggested?
They entered the sheriff’s office and Margo led her to the waiting area.
“I’ll go see what I can find out.”
Jessica chewed on her fingernail as the seconds turned to minutes. Waiting was torture. Where was Margo and why hadn’t she returned? She sifted through the events of the past week and realized things had gone from bad to worse. Now Andrew was accused of murder. How much worse could anything get?
She took a deep breath and tried to calm down, tried to remember that God was in this. Andrew was innocent and would soon be exonerated. The evidence would prove he couldn’t have done this.
And if the evidence proved he had?
She pushed that thought away. She’d looked into the eyes of killers and seen their evil intentions. Andrew wasn’t a killer.
A side door opened and Andrew appeared in handcuffs being led by two deputies.
“Andrew!” Jessica got up and ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck.
“I didn’t do this, Jessica. I didn’t kill Robert.”
She stared up into his eyes and knew it was the truth. “I believe you.”
“Someone is setting me up, Jessica. He said he wanted me out of the way. He said he was coming for you. You’re in danger.”
She was in danger? “Who was it?”
“I don’t know, but he said, ‘Tell Jess I’m coming for her next.’”
Jess? No one called her that name. No one knew her by that name except for Margo...well, Margo and one other person.
“Let’s go,” one of the deputies said, prodding him to move.
“Be careful, Jessica.”
She watched until they disappeared into a room and the door shut behind them. She chewed nervously on her nail again. It couldn’t possibly have been Mitch. He was still in prison in Georgia.
Wasn’t he?
It had been nearly two weeks since she’d checked the website. Maybe checking again wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Another detective got up from his desk without logging out of his computer and she snuck over and pulled up the internet. She typed in the website address then the inmate number. Mitch’s pictures loaded but at the bottom of the page his status had been updated.
Escaped.
The air left her lungs and Jessica gripped the desk for support. Mitch was out. He’d escaped, and he’d come after Andrew.
Margo rushed to her. “What are you doing? You can’t be on that computer.” She glanced at the screen. “Why are you looking up details of our escaped prisoner?”
Jessica glanced up at her. “Our escaped prisoner?”
“This is the guy we’ve been on the lookout for. Mitch Reynolds.”
Jessica felt sick. Margo had told her about an escaped convict in the area, but she’d never heard the man’s name, never dreamed it could be him. She pushed to her feet. Mitch had been out for days. He’d been watching her. He’d been following her. He knew about Andrew and he knew about the shelter. Everyone she knew, everyone she cared about was in danger.
Suddenly the clomping of boots shook her memory. Memories from yesterday’s attack rushed through. The boots, the sneer, the look.
Mitch!
Margo grabbed her arm. “Jessica, do you know this man?”
She turned to her friend and with a heavy heart finally told her the truth. “He’s the man who murdered my brother, and now he’s going to kill me, too.”
* * *
Andrew had sat in these interrogation rooms many times before but never as a suspect. His mind swam with all that had happened to him in the past few hours. Had he been so preoccupied with worrying over Sarah that he’d failed to see the trap set for him?
He’d only been responding to Sarah’s text message, but she hadn’t been the one waiting for him at Dalton Lake. Where was she? And how was she involved with this man who’d threatened Jessica?
His leg twitched nervously as his mind worked, processing all the information. This mystery man had obviously killed Robert and was framing him to make it look as if he’d been the one to murder Robert. He was doing a good frame job, too. So far, he’d managed to get Andrew to the scene, make it look as if a fight took place and had the police find him with the murder weapon...with his fingerprints on the knife.
But what did this guy want with Jessica? Knowing her, she’d probably been helping his wife or girlfriend escape him. Whatever the reason, Jessica’s life was in danger, which meant he had to get out of here in order to protect her.
That wouldn’t be easy since they’d locked him in this room to stew awhile. It was a common technique and one he knew the police used often.
Finally, the door opened but it wasn’t the detectives who entered.
It was Bill. The grim look on his face told Andrew he was not happy. He dropped a file onto the table and folded his arms. “When I told you to fix this matter with your brother-in-law this wasn’t what I had in mind, Andrew.”
“I’m being set up.”
“I’m sorry, Andrew, but I can’t make this go away. I’ve assigned CJ to prosecute and I’ve instructed her not to go easy on you just because you’re one of us. I don’t want any indications of favoritism within the D.A.’s office. I’ve reassigned all of your cases and as of this moment you’re on personal leave.”
“Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?”
Bill only smirked at that then opened the door.
CJ entered right after Bill walked out. She was accompanied by a uniformed officer. “Andrew, you know as well as I do that our state doesn’t have a manslaughter charge. Given the circumstances, I have no choice but to charge you with murder. I am willing, however, to offer you a plea agreement.”
He sat back in his chair and studied her. She wasn’t the sym
pathetic type. She was trying to be slick only he wasn’t buying her act. “You haven’t even had enough time to process the evidence. Don’t you think a plea is premature?”
She opened the file and peered at him from above her glasses. “The victim, Robert Young, was your brother-in-law. Married to your sister, Sarah. He was recently arrested for beating her. Subsequently you were involved in an altercation with the deceased. Your girlfriend identified him as the man who broke into her home and assaulted her. Sounds like motive to me.”
“You’re drawing conclusions. You have no real evidence.”
“I can convict you on this alone. You and I both know it. And I have no doubt the physical evidence will back me up, especially this one.” She tossed the bloody knife, now bagged and tagged onto the table.
His mind swirled. How could he get her to understand he was being set up? Would she believe him, or simply believe it was a ploy? How many times had he heard a suspect declare he was being set up?
Too many times.
She stood and gathered her papers. “Get comfortable, Counselor. You’re going to be here for a while.”
* * *
How had Mitch found her without her knowing he was free? What was he doing out? And why hadn’t she been notified of his escape?
Her head was spinning at the idea that he was really here, really out. Every sound in the busy police department was multiplied as Jessica came to grips with what this meant for her. Every ring of the telephone was the hiss of his voice. You’re mine, Jess. Every reflection in the windows was him jumping out at her, and every face that passed by her seat was a potential threat.
She hugged her shoulders and rocked to calm the fear that was bubbling up inside of her. Mitch was back, had been back in her life for nearly two weeks without her realizing it. Had it actually been Robert stalking her...or had it been Mitch all along?
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