Finding Justice

by Rachel Brimble

  She knew that laugh....

  “Got it.”

  A smile tugged at her lips. His voice was rich and deep, warm when everything else around her felt cold. She swallowed. It couldn’t be. “Jay?”

  “The one and only. How are you, pretty girl?”

  “My God, it is you.” Her smile stretched to a full-blown grin. “I can’t believe this. It’s been years.” Since her father died.

  “It’s great to hear your voice again. What have you been up to?”

  She hesitated, hating to lie but the alternative was impossible. Jay. Jay Garrett. Childhood friend and confidante. Her one-time lover.

  “Not much, really. Work, work and more work.” She forced a cheery smile. “How are you?”

  Silence.

  Cat stood and walked toward the bedroom door. “Jay? You there?”

  “I need your help, Cat. I’m in trouble. Big trouble.”

  The timbre of despair in his voice alerted her to grief. Loss. She heard it loud and clear. It didn’t matter whether the speaker was male or female, young or old. When you lost someone before you should, it always sounded the same. She was trained to recognize it—personally and professionally. To listen and help. To alleviate others’ pain and hide her own. She stopped pacing and tightened her grip on the receiver.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Sarah.”

  Her mind whirled back seven years ago to the last time she and her family took their annual holiday to Templeton Cove. A picturesque town situated amongst the spectacular “English Riviera” region of Southwest England. The place Jay and his family had lived for generations.

  “Sarah? Is she okay?” Cold dread seeped into Cat’s blood, making goose bumps erupt on her arms. “Jay?”

  “She’s dead, Cat. Murdered.”

  She sucked in a breath as a lump of stone dropped into her abdomen. “What?”

  “You need to come to the Cove. Investigate her death. The police here aren’t getting anywhere.” His shaky breath rasped down the line. “I’m a suspect, Cat. You have to help me. You have to help me show them—”

  “Wait. You’re a suspect?” How could good, kindhearted Jay Garrett be a suspect in a murder investigation? The Jay she remembered always smiled, laughed and kissed with lips that could lead a girl into all sorts of trouble....

  “Please tell me you’re the detective you always swore you would be. You have to help me. I need you.”

  He needs me. After all this time. “Jay, listen to me. If you’re a suspect, what happened? Cops do not go around accusing people—”

  “The cops are walking around like their bloody heads are cut off. Sarah’s parents are waiting for them to release her body while the police point the finger at me rather than the real killer. I feel trapped, Cat. You’ve got to come to the Cove.”

  Cat felt the color leave her face and she gripped her hair back in a fist. “How did she die?”

  “Strangled.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut. “Oh, God, no.”

  Sarah. Her friend. Her partner in crime. Memories of their childhood antics crashed into her heart and mind, of tormenting Jay and Chris, Cat’s older brother, as they hung around the arcade trying to look cool. Of course, they’d grown up and Jay became the one whom all the girls noticed whenever he walked into a room. Especially Cat.

  The seconds passed like heartbeats before Jay spoke again. “You’ll come? You’ll help me find the son of a bitch who did this?”

  Her mum shot to the forefront of her mind on the eternal elastic band connecting them. She snapped her eyes open. “I can’t.”

  Panic poured through her veins. She couldn’t leave. She could never leave. “You don’t understand—”

  “Cat, please. We have to find out what was going on with Sarah before she died. Who would kill her? Everyone loved her. You can’t think I would do this. I loved her. You know that.”

  Love. What was love to any of them? Tears seared the back of Cat’s eyes as she strode from the bedroom onto the landing. “You have to let the police do their job. Templeton Cove is miles from my jurisdiction. There’s nothing I can do. I’d help if I could, but—”

  “Cat, please. It’s my fault.”

  Her heart turned over and she ground to an abrupt stop. “What do you mean your fault?”

  “I didn’t kill her, but I didn’t get to her quick enough to save her, either.”

  Cat looked over the banister at the open living room door. “You were there?”

  “No, but I should’ve been. I’ll explain everything. Just say you’ll come. For me...for Sarah. Please.”

  “Jay...”

  The clink of glass against glass halted Cat’s words. Her mum had obviously woken and was now wetting her dry throat. Squeezing her eyes shut, Cat swore under her breath. Clearly, she’d missed another hidden bottle on her daily sweep.

  “Cat?” Desperation sounded in Jay’s voice.

  She walked wearily downstairs. “I can’t. I’m sorry. I’ve got a million and one things going on. Things I can’t just leave.”

  She leaned around the living-room doorjamb and anger burned in her stomach. Her mum downed a glass of vodka, the half-empty bottle swinging from her other hand.

  “Surely you’ve some holiday time due.” Jay pleaded into her ear. “I’ve been distracted for too long. I owe it to Sarah to find her killer.”

  Cat balled her hand into a fist when her mum abandoned the glass in favor of drinking straight from the bottle. She was due some time off—time off from everything. She moved from the door and into the hall.

  “Give me your number and twenty-four hours to see what I can do.” She fought the tears of frustration stinging her eyes.

  “You’ll come?”

  “Yes, Jay. God help me, I’ll come.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  CAT JUMPED WHEN THE loudspeaker announced the arrival of the train that would take her to Templeton Cove. She glanced at her watch. Right on time. Which meant Jay was already onboard. She tightened her fingers around the handle of her suitcase and inhaled a shaky breath, immediately fighting the urge to gag. The smell of oil and grease mixed with frying bacon and sugar-dipped donuts did little to settle the lurching in her stomach.

  Today had been chosen as “Mission: Templeton Cove” day because Jay was passing through Cat’s hometown of Reading on his way back from a business trip in London. It made sense for them to travel to the Cove together. Or so Jay said, anyway. Cat felt no surer of that now than she had a week ago.

  She fought the self-doubt niggling her from every angle. How could she possibly get on a train to Templeton Cove and leave her brother in charge of looking after their mum? Her brother, who’d left home when their once-attentive mother started coming home drunk seven nights a week reeking of booze and cigarettes. Cat’s resentment burned. Would she ever forgive Chris for leaving her alone to deal with the ensuing mess? She seriously doubted it. Tilting her chin, she tried to ignore the tension pulsing at her temple.

  She shifted from one foot to the other and hitched her tote bag higher onto her shoulder. She must be either mad or desperate to be leaving him in charge.

  The train came into view. No going back now. This was it. She was about to be reunited with one of the two people who’d made her summers from the age of eleven to twenty the best of her life. The other was now dead. Murdered. Cat swallowed. Possibly at Jay’s hands.

  She bit her teeth together
. No. She wouldn’t go there. Innocent until proven guilty.

  Cat pulled back her shoulders. She would find Sarah’s killer if it was the last thing she did because no part of her believed it was Jay. It couldn’t be him. She would spend however long it took proving her gut instinct was right. This wasn’t about loyalty, this was about fact. Jay Garrett was no murderer.

  She stared at the purple-and-blue train as it rumbled and squealed to a stop. Cat held back as the carriage doors opened and a deluge of passengers spilled onto the platform. She watched with her feet welded to the concrete as one person after another boarded ahead of her.

  A week had passed since Jay’s initial phone call, and the two of them had spoken half a dozen times between then and now. Despite her insistence she was needed at police headquarters and there was no chance in hell of her boss releasing her for a month, Inspector Harris did exactly that with minimum resistance.

  His comments about the bags beneath her eyes and unbecoming weight loss hadn’t been strictly necessary, but Cat got the general idea. Apparently, a little downtime away from the city was just what she needed. Her nerves hitched and she shivered at the prospect ahead. Downtime was the last thing looking for her friend’s killer would be.

  She tilted her chin. She had to keep positive. Not only would she find him or her, some time away from her mum could only be a good thing, too. It would work out best for all of them. It wouldn’t hurt Chris to pick up the slack for a while; he was as much their mother’s son as she was her daughter. As much as it pained her to admit it, Cat was weakening under the daily pressure of being her mum’s keeper. Finding Sarah’s killer was something she had to do. She refused to turn away from either her or Jay when they needed her most.

  She stepped forward, gripped the bar at the side of the train door and stepped aboard, heaving her suitcase in behind her. She’d figure out what to do next about her mum’s addiction when she came home. For now, she had a friend’s killer to find and a one-time lover to face.

  She made her way down the narrow aisle toward carriage B, where Jay had said he’d meet her. Her gaze wandered left and right, up and down. The carriage was busier than she’d anticipated, and as she slowly made her way through, finding a seat seemed a hopeless task. Jay had said he would find her, not the other way around. She scanned the sea of faces as she continued down the aisle, but no one looked remotely like Jay. Despite the time that had passed since she last saw him, Cat felt sure she’d recognize him.

  At last, she found two empty seats separated by a table just wide enough to hold a couple of back-to-back laptops. She hauled her luggage onto the rack above and sat down. Grateful for the window seat, she purposely turned away from people walking backward and forward carrying steaming cups of coffee and bottles of water. Chitchat was not on her agenda.

  She pulled her cell phone from her inside jacket pocket and looked at the screen. Was it pathetic to ring her brother already? She’d left him and his fiancée with Mum less than an hour ago. Would he snap at her? Or worse, beg her to come home? She stuffed the phone back into her pocket. Checking in with Chris once she reached the Cove would be soon enough. Her brother was twenty-nine, not nine.

  The screech of the guard’s whistle hitched her nerves a little higher. If anyone had been sitting opposite her, they’d think her a first-time train traveler rather than a detective sergeant in the Thames Valley Police Force.

  The train eased forward, gradually increasing its speed. The concrete-and-chrome chaos of urban Reading gave way to grass, greenery and grace. The emerging English countryside had never looked so beautiful or full of promise. She would take this time to recenter, to regain a sense of herself and what she wanted. With a clearer mind, she could do more good for her mum.

  Gripping the arms of her chair, she hoisted herself upward. How was Jay meant to find her among all these passengers? She’d suggested they send each other pictures via their phones but he’d laughed in that toe-curling way of his, telling her he didn’t want to frighten her into not coming. Cat sank back down into her seat and shook her head. It was like saying Brad Pitt could morph into Frankenstein’s monster over a decade. Never gonna happen.

  Jay had possessed movie-star looks even when they were kids. He hadn’t been able to do anything to fend off the hormonal attentions of ripe seventeen- and eighteen-year-old girls then, and she guessed it was likely the same with lustful twentysomething ones today. Cat smiled. The truth was she’d been one of those girls herself, once. And for one night, he’d been completely hers.

  Her smile dissolved. She’d been a different person then and no doubt Jay had, too. Smoothing her trembling hand over her hair, self-consciousness tripped along the surface of her skin. He was likely as good-looking as ever. She grimaced. God only knew how much the problems of the last few years had aged her.

  Cat squeezed her eyes shut. What was she doing? Why was she even thinking about Jay’s looks? He was a murder suspect. A murder suspect who’d asked her to the Cove to find the real killer and prove his innocence, not rekindle a twenty-four-hour romance. She’d agreed to this trip for exactly the same reason.

  The scrunching and scraping beside her announced company and Cat stiffened when the musky scent of male aftershave wafted beneath her nostrils. He moved around, lifting something onto the luggage rack, followed by the whisper of a jacket sliding from his shoulders. Cat slowly opened her eyes and surreptitiously watched her new carriage companion from beneath lowered lashes. He stood a little away from her, patting his trousers before pulling a phone from his back pocket.

  Jay. Her heart picked up speed.

  With his eyes on the BlackBerry in his hand, he slid into the seat opposite her. She couldn’t see his face in its entirety, but what she saw still looked good. He was tall and dark, with broad shoulders, and the complete absence of a beer belly set Jay pretty high in her admiration of the opposite sex. Especially considering the specimens she’d endured picking her mum up from various dives.

  He lifted his head. “Finished checking me out?”

  Her mouth instantly curved into a wide grin. “Still as full of yourself as ever, I see.”

  He shrugged. “Hey, if a woman as gorgeous as you wants to take a moment, that’s fine by me.”

  Cat shook her head. “Idiot.”

  They laughed and leaned across the table for an awkward embrace. Cat resisted the urge to inhale the delicious scent of him and quickly sat back in her seat. She must remain professional. As far as she knew, Jay could have Sarah’s blood on his hands.

  “Well, you’re certainly growing old gracefully.” She forced a wide smile.

  His gaze traveled languidly over her face. “So are you. I can’t believe this.” He swept the dark brown, gorgeously floppy hair back from his forehead. “I only moved seats because the man opposite thought it was all right to start trimming his nasal hair right in front of me.”

  Cat laughed. “No, he did not.”

  “He did. And yes, I took a picture and Tweeted it.” He winked. “Only joking. You look fantastic.”

  She smiled, knowing full well she looked the complete opposite. “Thanks. You look pretty good, too.”

  Their eyes locked. His intense gaze reflected thoughts that were inexcusable yet totally flattering. Heat burned on her face and in other places. Jeez, the man hadn’t lost any of his invisible pull, that was for sure.

  She cleared her throat. “So, I’m here. Have you spoken to Sarah’s parents? Do they know I’m comi
ng to town?”

  He leaned back in his seat, all humor vanishing from his gaze as his jaw tightened. “No. They won’t see me or answer my calls. Not that I blame them. Would you if I was accused of killing your daughter?”

  Cat swallowed. “No, I don’t suppose I would.”

  “You have to help find the guy who did this, Cat. I would never hurt Sarah. We have to make her parents believe it, too.”

  She stared at him. Nothing but sincerity shone back. She looked to the window. “If my boss finds out I’m at the Cove poking around in a case I have no business poking around in, he’ll kick my butt into next week.”

  “You have no idea how much it means to me you’re here.”

  Cat turned. There it was again. The subtle change of tone in his voice. During their phone calls over the last week, his voice would be filled with his smile, oozing charm and good cheer, like liquid honey down the telephone line. Then it changed to something so somber and sad, she swore she heard his heart breaking.

  Cat leaned forward and resisted the temptation to take his hand in hers. “Hey, I came because I wanted to, okay? One way or another, I’ll find her killer and bring him or her to justice. I promise.” She glanced at the people sitting across the aisle. “But now is not the time to be talking about this.”

  He nodded. “I know. I just... This isn’t right, Cat. The police are wasting valuable time.”

  “And I’ll try to put that right but you have to be honest with me...about everything.”

  He frowned. “Of course.”

  “I need to know everything you know.”

  He glanced toward the other passengers. “You will.”

  “Good.”

  A deep sense of foreboding slipped over her shoulders. Something wasn’t right with him. Something deep. Forcing herself into cop mode rather than friend mode, the investigating officer in her rose to the surface, prickling the hairs at the back of her neck.