Cold Case Manhunt

by Jennifer Morey

  * * *

  Once they arrived home, Jaslene went into the tub, where Cal had lit some candles for her. He’d pampered her ever since he’d rescued her and her friends from that awful man. Riley was still on the loose. Police were still searching for him. Sinking into the sudsy water, she relaxed back. A knock on the door turned her head. She’d left the door open, maybe because she didn’t want to be alone right now.

  Cal entered. “Is it okay if I sit in here?”

  “Yes.”

  He sat on the edge of the tub. “You sure you’re all right? All that stress can’t be good on you.”

  “I’m fine. A bath and a good night’s sleep is all I need. And maybe Rapunzel.” She smiled, silently adding, And you by my side.

  “You gave me a big scare today,” he said.

  “I was scared, too.”

  “No, I mean, I thought of what would have happened if you’d have been hurt. Or worse?”

  He’d been torn up over that. Was that the detective in him or something more personal? Probably a little of both but she fancied he’d been torn up for personal reasons more than professional.

  “I’m all right.”

  He stood then and began to undress. She knew he intended to join her and she didn’t stop him. Even while her protective instincts warned to, she didn’t. Something deeper welcomed his company. It was due to the ordeal today, yes, but also more than that.

  He slipped into the water opposite her. “I don’t want you out of my sight anymore.”

  She moved her legs to make room for him, her knees poking out of the sudsy water. “We’re going to bathe together now?” He must need the closeness as much as she did.

  “Tonight we are.”

  She rested her calves on his right thigh and grew more curious as to why he needed to be close. She met his gaze as he reclined in the water, just looking at her.

  “Why does it bother you so much that I could have been hurt?” she asked, wanting to know if he would admit his feelings for her. “As opposed to anyone else.”

  “You’re pregnant with our child, for one.”

  He seemed reluctant to go on to a second reason.

  “For another...you must know I care about you. Do you really have to ask?”

  She angled her head and sent him a look he couldn’t mistake.

  He glanced down and swished the water with this hands. Then he raised his eyes, his gaze sexy and intense.

  “I keep thinking, what if I’d have been any later?” he finally said.

  “Did that change the way you feel about the baby? About us?”

  After several agonizing moments, he nodded twice. “I want the baby.”

  What about her?

  “I don’t know what to do with that,” he said. “I also don’t know what to do with how I feel about you.”

  “How do you feel about me?” she asked quietly, feeling her heart gush with love because he was opening up to her.

  “Like I did when I met my first wife, only different. More.”

  Different. More. Her heart and soul soared as she rejoiced but only for a moment. He’d just said he didn’t know what to do with how he felt after all.

  “I used to imagine my wife pregnant,” Cal said. “It was the best feeling in the world. Now, with you. I can’t do that again.”

  He couldn’t let himself feel that again. He distrusted. He resisted. He was afraid. Calum Chelsey, hotshot former detective who feared nothing, feared marriage and babies. Family.

  “You don’t have to imagine me pregnant. I am pregnant.” Maybe that was part of what was different: their future wasn’t conditional. It was a reality.

  “Yes, and if my timing hadn’t been so spot-on today, I could have lost you and the baby. It would have been much worse than losing my wife because I’d never know what it was like to give us a try, to be a family.”

  “Are you saying that’s what you want to do now?”

  “I think so. More than I did before I had a taste of what it would do to me if I lost you and the baby.”

  She rose up from her sitting position and crawled over to him, putting her hands on his manly shoulders and straddling him. Air cooled her wet skin and suds ran down her front, some sticking to her breasts. He loosely wrapped his arms around her, his eyes ravenously taking in her upper torso.

  “It’s hard for me, too.” She ran her fingers down his damp chest. “I realized today that I no longer carry guilt over what happened with Ansel before my husband died. I’ve moved on and it’s because of you.”

  Cal tipped his head back a little in question or doubt.

  “I’m not saying I’ve fallen in love with you. I just think we fit, and for now, for starters, I think it’s enough to move forward with what we’ve been handed.”

  “A baby.”

  She smiled, letting the intimate moment take her. “Yes.”

  The enormity of their situation hung between them, the way it had when they’d first realized she might be pregnant. Except this time it didn’t come with the same punch.

  Jaslene didn’t know what tomorrow or the weeks ahead would bring. She would only make the best of it. And right now, the best was being with Cal, in the tub, in this moment.

  Sliding her hands up his chest, she wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing her face close to his. “I think you’ll make a great dad.”

  His eyes began to smolder and at first she thought her compliment had the effect, but then she realized her breasts were pressed against his chest. Maybe the progress they’d made coming to terms with the baby made her warm to him, maybe their mutual need for company had. Maybe both. Neither stopped her from kissing him passionately.

  He ran his hands up her back, bringing suds with them. Shivers spread over her water-cooled skin. When he held her head and deepened the kiss, the shivers became an internal combustion, and she moved against him desperately, feeling his hardness.

  He withdrew from the kiss and cupped water in his hands, letting it run down her breasts, then repeated the process for her chilled arms. With her breasts now clear of bubbles, he took them one at a time into his mouth. She dug her fingers into his hair and closed her eyes to exquisite sensation.

  When he’d satisfied himself with her chest, he kissed her shoulder leisurely made his way up her neck and back to her mouth. He turned Jaslene’s insides into pure molten heat.

  Unable to wait any longer, she rose up and found him, guiding him inside her.

  He held her rear as she began to move, slow at first. Soon, he moved his hips from beneath her, just enough to find her sweet spot. She moved faster, going with the rising ecstasy that only he seemed capable of generating in her.

  As she ground against him harder, water sloshed but she didn’t care. All that mattered was Cal and what he did to her. She didn’t stifle the sounds emitting from her throat that accompanied her sudden release and heard him join her in perfect synchrony.

  As their bodies cooled, he kissed her gently a few times. The aftermath engulfed her and probably him the same way.

  “You’ll make a good mother, too,” he said against her mouth.

  She smiled against his lips and laughed huskily. She’d decided not thinking about tomorrow or the weeks ahead was the best thing for her. She might not feel the same way tomorrow, but she’d take today.

  Chapter 15

  The next day, Cal waited with Jaslene in Dr. Benjamin’s office. They hadn’t let on what they’d discovered and also shared with police, but it was time to make the doctor sweat. After finding the disposable phone, Cal was more certain than ever that Dr. Benjamin was behind the masked shooter, and Riley was an entirely different matter.

  Their backs to the corner window, he watched the electronic photo frame go through picture after picture of his wife and kids. Jaslene idly glanced at the photos of sailboats on the
walls and then joined him in observing the photo frame.

  Then their gazes met. She smiled affectionately, eliciting a grin from him. Since their talk yesterday they had touched a lot. Not sexually, just things like holding hands, sitting super close and leaning in for a chaste but loving kiss. Like now.

  He leaned in and she tipped her head up and he kissed her. Then he took hold of her hand.

  At last the door opened and the doctor stepped in. He walked to his desk and sat on the leather chair with a long sigh and annoyed look at each of them.

  “You two are going to have to stop dropping by unannounced. I have a practice to run.”

  “We wouldn’t have to if we didn’t keep finding out you’re lying,” Cal said.

  “What would I have to lie about regarding Payton?”

  “Why don’t you just come clean, Dr. Benjamin?”

  The doctor stared at him for several long seconds. “All right. Payton wasn’t the one who broke things off with me. I broke them off with her.”

  That came as a shock. Cal kept a neutral face and hoped Jaslene was able to do the same.

  “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want anyone to have any reason to think I had anything to do with her disappearance.”

  “Why would you breaking things off instead of her make any difference? You might have been upset she broke up with you and had a reason to kidnap her, and if you broke up with her, she might have a reason to go after you.”

  “I can’t do this anymore.”

  “Thanks for telling us, Doctor. Now maybe you could let us know why Payton bought a disposable phone and called the West Virginia Fraud Unit.”

  “She called what?” He appeared to feign ignorance, but he blinked a few times and his tone sounded a little higher, tenser.

  Cal didn’t respond. The doctor had already proved himself an expert liar.

  “I didn’t know she bought a disposable phone.”

  “Oh, I think you did. Her house was searched before any police were notified of her disappearance. I bet you weren’t very happy when you couldn’t find the phone.”

  The doctor’s eyes hardened. “I didn’t know about any phone and this is the first I’ve heard about a fraud unit call.”

  “Now, see? That’s why I think you really lied about you being the one to break up with her. You didn’t want anyone to grow suspicious that she was onto you, lest they discover you had everything to do with her disappearance.”

  Dr. Benjamin’s anger visibly increased. “This is ridiculous.”

  “We found her body. You may have heard about that in the news.”

  With that announcement, the doctor’s ire faded. “Oh, that’s terrible. I didn’t know.” Again he blinked and his tone sounded strained.

  “Convenient.” Until now Jaslene had been silent, letting him do all the talking.

  “She was murdered,” Cal said.

  After a lengthy pause, Dr. Benjamin said, “And because you think I supposedly knew Payton bought a cheap phone to call a fraud unit that I must have also killed her. What good would that do me?”

  “It would keep anyone from being tipped off to look into your illegal activities.”

  “She already called the fraud unit, based on what you just said.”

  “She didn’t report you. I checked.” Cal saw Jaslene’s sharp glance his way. He’d forgotten to tell her with all the pregnancy drama going on.

  “Look all you want. You won’t find anything. I’m clean and I didn’t kill Payton. I didn’t want anything more to do with her. I decided to work on my marriage and keep my family together.”

  “He’s lying.” Jaslene stood. “Let’s go.”

  “I’m not lying. How much do you know about her ex-boyfriend, Riley Sawyer?”

  She stopped and turned to look at the doctor.

  That got Cal’s attention, too. “We know he’s a stalker.”

  “I convinced her not to see him anymore.” Jaslene walked back to the chair she’d vacated.

  “Then it will come as no surprise to you that he stalked me, too. He threatened me not to see her anymore. One night as I was leaving the office, he appeared next to my car with a gun.”

  Cal believed Riley was unstable, but was the doctor using this as a tool to remove some suspicion?

  “I noticed him watching us one day. We went to lunch like we frequently did and he was outside the restaurant, just standing there. That’s when Payton told me about him. She was afraid because he kept spying on her.” He leaned back against the chair, becoming more confident. “I asked if she’d told the police and she said Jaslene did.”

  “She placed a restraining order on him,” Jaslene said.

  Dr. Benjamin nodded. “We didn’t call the police because we were afraid news of our affair would leak. A few days later, Riley met me in the parking lot and threatened me. He told me not to see Payton anymore, or else he’d tell my wife. I had to think of my family.”

  “That’s why you broke up with her?” Jaslene asked.

  The doctor nodded. “I didn’t want to.”

  Cal didn’t bother asking again why he hadn’t told them this before, why he had lied. A man desperate to keep a secret would say anything to protect himself. Maybe he’d thought the lie was better than the truth, even though in this case it wasn’t.

  “It doesn’t matter.” Jaslene turned again and walked to the door.

  “Riley is the one you should be looking for,” Dr. Benjamin said. “I lied to keep my family together. Riley is crazy and he blames you for Payton’s disappearance.”

  She stopped at the door.

  “I’m right, aren’t I?”

  Cal joined Jaslene at the door.

  “It’s not much of a stretch to suggest Riley kidnapped Payton.”

  “He blames Jaslene for her death,” Cal said.

  “Maybe he has her all to himself now that she’s dead.”

  “Said the man who’d say anything to throw off suspicion.” Cal put his hand on Jaslene’s back and prompted her to leave.

  With eyebrows low, Dr. Benjamin watched them go. He caught Cal’s glance and turned away, facing his computer. But Cal knew he had only done that in an attempt to appear unaffected.

  Too late.

  Outside the front doors, Jaslene turned abruptly to face him. He had to take care of this now.

  She put her hands on her hips. “Why didn’t you tell me you called the fraud unit?”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean not to. I’ve just had a lot on my mind.”

  After searching his face and eyes, her hands lowered to her sides. “Payton didn’t report him? Why?”

  “She just called to ask questions. She told them she had no proof but she heard a rumor that at least one doctor participated in a bonus program when he was employed by Dr. Benjamin. Doctors can’t take kickbacks for referrals. Dr. Benjamin runs multiple practices and home health care companies. We have no way of knowing which ones participated.”

  Her eyes roved all over his face, full of disbelief; he could feel her injury as she absorbed what he said. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

  “I asked if they’d look into him and they said they’d sent someone to question him and the doctors at his other clinics. Nothing significant came up.”

  “Of course nobody’s going to admit guilt on that level. Can’t doctors go to jail for that?”

  “And lose their medical license. I’m no expert on that kind of law, but Dr. Benjamin could lose everything, depending on how much he swindled from the bonus program, in which he would receive money from his referrals. That chiropractor must have paid for referrals because Benjamin required that and that’s why he left.”

  “And didn’t tell anyone the truth because he paid for referrals. Benjamin had serious motive, Cal, even if the fraud unit didn’t find any
thing. What you learned from the fraud unit, Payton’s call, is huge.”

  Scratching his head, seeing where this was headed, he nodded. “Yeah. I thought so, too.”

  “And yet you didn’t think to tell me.”

  “Jaslene.” How could he explain? “The baby.”

  She stomped her foot. “The baby? You leave out an important detail like this and your only excuse is the baby?”

  For a moment he could only take in the slight jiggle of her breasts and her beautiful fiery blue eyes and blond hair. “It’s distracting. And I would have told you. I only just found out early this morning, when you were still sleeping. And let’s not forget last night, shall we? I did have a lot on my mind, Jaslene.”

  All of her anger drained from her face. She contemplated him affectionately and then looped an arm around his neck, rising up to kiss him once.

  Then with a twinkle in her eyes, she said, “You’re forgiven,” and started walking toward the SUV, heading at an angle across the parking lot lane.

  “I will never understand women,” he muttered low enough for her not to hear, admiring her rear as the distance increased between them.

  As he started after her, he saw a minivan approach. He paused to let the vehicle pass.

  As the minivan approached Jaslene, it slowed, and before Cal could react, the side door opened and someone grabbed her, drawing her into the back seat.

  “No!” he yelled, all the blood leaving his head. Not Jaslene.

  He ran toward the vehicle, drawing his gun. The minivan sped away. Another car approached from the other direction, cutting him off and preventing him from firing at the tires of the minivan. Running to his SUV, he feared by the time he gave chase, it would be too late: for Jaslene, for himself and for their baby.

  * * *

  Jaslene screamed and kicked and tried to wrench free of her captor, who easily overpowered her. She found herself lying in the back seat of the minivan facedown, the big man cuffing her wrists behind her. Next he lifted her cell phone from her back pocket, slid down the window and threw it outside. She managed to get her knees underneath her while he was busy doing that and lifted her torso, shoving him back. She scurried to the side of the minivan, seeing part of the driver’s face in the rearview mirror. It was Riley.