“Ben, I can’t believe you still have that. Honey, you’ve got to let this go. That man went to jail for her murder.” A heavy sigh came through the phone. “I don’t have a place for her dress, but if you want to bring it when you bring your lady friend to meet us, I’ll gladly take it to be donated.”
Ben’s mouth fell open. “Y-Yes, ma’am.”
“Don’t sound so surprised, Ben. It’s time for you to live again. I’m surprised it’s taken you this long.”
“Thank you, Sally. It may be a few weeks, but we’ll come by.”
* * *
“Ben, call me when you get this. They’re connected! I’m going straight home. I’ve got so much information to get written down and organized. Can you meet me at my office tomorrow morning? Call me!”
Rachel picked up her phone and spoke notes into it as she drove. Lost in her thoughts, she jumped when her phone rang. “Hello?”
“Rachel? Are you all right, sweetheart?”
“Ben. I was just dictating notes into my phone, and the call startled me.”
“You sure you don’t want to come here?”
“Not tonight, Ben. I want to see you, but I want to get this all sorted, or as best as I can. I’m sure there are holes, and I want to know what I’m looking for.”
Ben chuckled. “Okay. I know how you get when you’ve got a lead, and this sounds like it’s a good one.”
“It is! You’re never going to believe who Matthew’s father is.”
“The mailman?”
“Close. Are you sitting down?”
“Go ahead.”
“Theodore Nobles.”
A loud thud came through the phone.
“Ben? Did you hear me?”
“Yeah, sweetheart, I heard you. Are you sure?”
“Right out of his mother’s own mouth, but the birth certificate will prove it. And that’s not all. Martin Pickens has been his benefactor since Theo went to jail.”
“What do you mean?”
“Apparently, Martin paid for Ms. Hightower’s house here. I want to know who’s paying the nursing home bills. I’m assuming Matthew, but who the hell knows. Ben, I swear, Martin is almost like the fucking godfather—he may pay for your shit, but you’re going to pay him with a lot more than money.”
“Well, you don’t use that word very often. Take a breath, Rachel.”
“I know, I just need to work on a timeline. Oh, and there’s a girl named Donna something. I think she was the first one. It happened in high school.”
“We can try to track her down.”
“You’ll come to my office tomorrow morning?”
“Yes, I’ll be there. Is nine all right?”
“Yes. Perfect. I love you, Ben. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
“I love you too. Let me know when you get home.”
23
Having tossed and turned the whole night, Ben barely slept and was moving slowly. He sipped his coffee as he turned the corner from the parking garage in Charleston about the time Rachel and another woman were crossing the street.
He waved and called to her. “Rachel!”
She turned toward him just as a car sped up. Ben saw it happening in slow motion in front of him, and there wasn’t anything he could do. “Rachel, car!” She turned and pushed the other woman out of the way as she fell to the ground. He ran as fast as he could. Adrenaline pumping through him, needing to get to her. “Rachel!” He fell on his knees beside her. “Rachel, sweetheart, open your eyes.”
Her eyes fluttered before she slowly opened them. “Ben,” she said in a weak voice.
He was massaging her head, feeling for any lumps. “Baby, are you hurt?”
“Just a little scraped up from diving out of the way.”
“Let’s call an ambulance and take you in for an examination.”
“Deborah, are you okay?”
“Thank you for pushing me. I didn’t even fall, but I did get a picture of the license tag, Rachel. Hopefully, that maniac will get a freaking ticket.” She turned toward Ben. “I’m Deborah by the way.”
“Hey, Deborah. I want that picture.”
“Sure thing.”
Ben looked back at Rachel. “Where’s your car?” She pointed to the employee parking lot. “Come on, we’re going to get you checked out.”
“Ben, I’m fine.”
“No, you’re going.” His eyes were watery, and he was shaking. “We’re going right now. Your car is closer.”
She cupped his face with her scraped hands, and he tilted his face into her palm. “Oh, Ben, I’m okay, just a little shaken up, but let’s go see a doctor.”
He nodded. “Yes.” He helped her off the pavement as a crowd was starting to gather. “Oh God, I…you…”
Rachel stepped forward, but her foot gave out from under her. “Dammit, he caused me to break my good heels. That asshole needs to buy me a new pair of shoes.”
Ben stopped and looked at her. “You could have been killed, and you’re worried about a pair of shoes?”
“No, I’m worried about you. I can see the fear and anger in your eyes.”
“Yes, I … I almost—”
She placed a finger over his lips. “This is not your fault. Yes, it could have been much worse than it is, but I’m okay. I’ll probably be sore for a few days, but I’ll live. I’m alive, Ben.”
“I didn’t protect you.”
“Babe, how could you? You didn’t know some idiot was coming down the street. But you warned me, which gave me time to move.”
Ben’s eyes glazed over. “Rachel, that wasn’t an accident. He sped up. It was intentional.” He quickly turned to Deborah. “May I see your phone?” She handed it over, and Ben looked at the picture before sending it to his phone. “Would you please call 9-1-1 and have them meet us at the hospital?”
“Sure.”
“Please make yourself available to give them a statement, and let the police know who the target was. Also, let someone know that Rachel will be working from home the next few days.”
“Ben, we’ve got to come back here. “Deborah had dinner with the other law student last night, and we need her information.”
“Rachel…”
“After that, I’ll go home with you. I can work remotely.”
Ben nodded. “We’ll be back as quickly as we can.” He picked Rachel up and headed toward her car with her cradled in his arms.
“You know I can walk, right?”
“Maybe, but we don’t know if anything is broken.”
“I’m not in that much pain.”
“Well, maybe I want to feel you close to me ‘cause I’m not sure my heart didn’t stop.”
Her hand cupping his face calmed his anxiety a fraction, but not enough to make him feel better. He put her on her feet beside the car and held out his shaky hand. “Keys, please.”
Rachel dug them out of her purse and handed them over. “Ben, I’m okay. I’m not going anywhere.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You don’t know that. How could you? The first woman I loved was killed in a car accident. I can’t handle it a second time.” He cupped both hands under her chin and tilted her head. “I won’t survive if something happens to you, Rach.” He gently laid his lips on her forehead for an extended moment, then pulling back, he looked her in the eyes.
“I can’t lose you, too.”
* * *
Three hours later they pulled into the same parking spot they’d left earlier. With bandages wrapped around both of Rachel’s hands, she looked like a burn victim.
“Ben, I feel silly. They’re just scraped.”
“Just through the night, sweetheart. The doctor didn’t want your hands getting infected.” He tangled his fingers in the hair on the side of her head. “Do it for me, please.”
“You better be glad I love you so much.”
“I am.” He kissed the back of her hand where there were no bandages. “Let’s go talk to Deborah so we can go home. Will you need to pick u
p anything from your house?”
“Just some clothes.”
“All right, let’s get this over with.”
Rachel slipped on a pair of flats from her bag, and they slowly made their way into the DA’s office. All heads turned when they walked in, and several people expressed their concern. Assuring her co-workers that she was fine, she locked Ben, Deborah, and herself in the conference room with all the information they’d gathered.
“Ben, I know you and Deborah met earlier, but to clarify, she’s assisting me on this case, and she’s also the one who set up the meeting with Tracy on Monday.”
He stuck his hand out. “Pleased to meet you—again. That was quick thinking getting that photo earlier.”
“Thank you,” Deborah said.
Rachel sat down in a chair next to Ben as she looked at Deborah. “So, did your friend have anything to help us?”
“Her name is Pamela Fisher. She graduated a year behind Matthew and”—she looked at Ben with sad eyes—“Maggie.”
Ben nodded. “Deborah, it’s all right. We can handle talking about Maggie.” He turned to look at Rachel with an adoring smile on his face.
Rachel returned the look. “Yes, we can.” After a moment, she focused on Deborah. “Tracy Long remembered her. She said that Pamela would have made the best barrister. She also thinks Pamela was the only one to file a formal complaint about Matthew.”
Deborah nodded. “She went to the dean of the law school. He tried to get her to drop the charges—even told her that it would be in her best interest to do so. She was shocked and confused, wondering why the dean would suggest that knowing the law.”
Rachel listened with her fingers tapping on the table. “So, what happened?”
“She filed the formal complaint, and within a week, she received a phone call from Senator Martin Pickens.”
Rachel gasped at the same time Ben’s phone vibrated. “I need to take this. It’s Sam.” Ben connected the call. “Sam, I have you on speaker.”
“I got your text. Is Rachel okay? Do you need me to come down there?”
Ben looked at Rachel, and she smiled. “I’m okay, Sam, but thank you.”
“You’re welcome. That car is registered to someone you’re both going to find interesting.”
They looked at each other. “Martin Pickens?” Ben asked.
“Try Theodore Nobles.”
Rachel’s hand flew to her chest. “What?”
Ben leaned on his arms. “Are you sure, Sam?”
“Not my first rodeo, Ben.”
“I know, man, but that means—”
“He knew I was in Rock Hill.”
Deborah looked at both of them. “How? No one knew except the three of us.”
Ben sat back in the chair and crossed his arms. “Four, Sam knew. But who else? Do you think the home would have called Matthew?”
Rachel massaged her forehead. “I don’t think so. They really seemed to have bought the story about surprising him at the wedding.” She rubbed her hairline and rested her hand on her cheek. “I almost bumped into a guy when I was leaving, but I didn’t really look at his face…”
“Sam, can we get a current picture of Theo … driver’s license or something?”
“On it. When are you going to be back?”
“I’m bringing Rachel home with me in a few hours.”
“I’ll send it as soon as I get it.”
“Thanks.” Ben disconnected the call.
“Well, that may change things,” Rachel said as she stood.
“How?” Deborah asked.
“They know I went to see Ms. Hightower.”
“But they don’t know for what,” Deborah said.
“They may not know if it’s for Matthew or Martin, but they know something is up. Why else would an assistant DA show up at a retirement facility to speak with a woman she’s never met before?”
Ben cleared his throat. “We still have the element of surprise. They don’t know which one is being investigated.”
Rachel stopped pacing and looked at both of them. “It doesn’t matter. Theo is the henchman, so to speak. He’ll protect them both, no matter who gave the order.” Rachel sat back down. “Deborah, finish telling us what Pamela said. We need to get a timeline started and try to piece some of this together.”
“She didn’t retract the complaint. Senator Pickens told her she’d regret it, that he had a long reach. He went on to tell her that it was a shame that such a brilliant law mind would never argue a major case in this state.” She took a deep breath. “She applied to several of the larger law firms when she graduated, and each one sent her a letter that stated they weren’t interested or didn’t have any openings while other people in her class were getting jobs at those firms. The senator had held true to his words.”
Ben shook his head. “Do you think that her formal complaint is still there? I’m sure it’s been accidentally lost or erased by now.”
Deborah shook her head and pulled out a piece of paper from her notebook. “It doesn’t matter what the school did because she kept her copy of the form she filled out.”
Rachel’s knee bounced under the table. “That was brilliant. Will she testify?”
Deborah nodded. “Yes, she says she’s got nothing else to lose.”
Rachel clapped her hands. “Carrie will have her day in court.”
“I think Sam’s hoping it won’t come to that.”
“Then we need to make our case and take it to a grand jury—the sooner, the better.”
Ben nodded. “At home.” He turned toward Deborah. “I forwarded that picture to my cell, so you have my number now. Call if anything happens. I’m taking Rachel home to rest, and she’ll be working remotely from my house for the next week. No one will suspect her being there, so keep that to yourself. If anyone asks, she’s working in an undisclosed location for her safety, got it?”
Deborah nodded. “Rachel, take care of yourself. I’ll let you know what happens here.”
Rachel stood and hugged Deborah. “Thank you. We’ll talk every day.”
24
By the time they arrived at Ben’s, it was late afternoon. He had followed Rachel to make sure he kept an eye on anyone around her. It would have been nice for them to ride in the same car, but he didn’t trust that hers wouldn’t be tampered with overnight if she’d left it at home. At least during working hours, it was in a guarded parking lot.
He had just hit the remote on the garage door opener when his phone pinged with an incoming text. If it was what he thought it was, he wanted to hold Rachel when she looked at the picture.
Ben had rounded his SUV by the time she opened her door. “Rach, why don’t you put on comfortable clothes, and I’ll get you some pain killers.”
She reached for her overnight bag in her passenger seat. “Yeah, just that ride has me getting stiff. My back is sore.”
“Give me that.” He took her bag from her. “Rach, you took a jolt today. Do you need me to carry you?”
“No, I can walk. I’m just moving slowly.”
Ben held her arm as she walked up the few steps to his back door. “Take your time. You’re in no hurry. I’ve got all your stuff.”
“Are we going to work in your office or on the kitchen table?”
“First, you’re going to rest tonight. Second, we’ll start on it in the morning.”
“Ben…”
"Rach.” He raised his eyebrows. “I do have something I want you to see, but then I mean it. Rest.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Hold you. I’ve got a few things to tell you, and they’re about us, so I need your mind clear of work.”
“Let’s take a shower then.”
“Are you sure you feel like it?”
“I don’t think I could bend to get in the tub.”
“No, I mean, are you sure you want me with you?”
“Yes, I need to feel you, even if it’s just close to my body.”
“Oh, s
weetheart, I need that too. I don’t think I’d ever been more scared in my life.”
Rachel cocked her brow. “Maggie?”
“Different kind of scared. I’d feared for our lives at that moment, but then I blacked out and didn’t know too much. Today, I watched the whole damn thing in slow motion. It felt as if I were running in quicksand. I wasn’t lying when I said I thought my heart had stopped.”
Rachel wrapped her arms around Ben’s waist. “I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I should have gotten there earlier.”
“Babe, you couldn’t have known. Do not blame yourself for this. You can’t control the actions of others.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I know. But where you’re concerned, I want you in a protective bubble.” He smiled down at her.
“You know that’s completely unrealistic.”
“Maybe.” He shrugged and stripped down to his boxer briefs as Rachel struggled with her buttons. “Let me start the water, then I’ll help you get undressed, and we’ll unwrap your hands.” Ben stepped into the bathroom and started the water.
As he turned back toward the door, Rachel’s sobs flooded his ears. She had been strong for those around her, but now she was breaking down. He knew it would happen at some point, and he needed to be her rock. His arms gently enveloped her. “Rach, I’ve got you. Let it all out.”
Her body shook against his until she was completely dry of tears. He pulled back and held her gaze as he unfastened every button on her blouse. He lifted one of her hands and unwrapped it, turning her palm to gently kiss it then repeated the same on the other. When he released her hands, he slid her blouse off her shoulders, not saying a word as he turned her away from him. Kissing her shoulders, he deftly unhooked the clasps of her bra which helped distract him from devouring her. She was hurt, and he needed to comfort her.
As his hands glided down the contours of her back, the swish of her bra falling to the floor was the only thing to break the sound of their breathing. He gently squeezed her waist before unbuttoning her skirt and lowering the zipper. Her breath caught as he pushed her skirt and panties to the floor. Following his hands down her legs, he knelt and tapped an ankle. She lifted her foot, and he removed her shoe. He held up his hand for her to hold.
Uncovered Secrets: A Riverton Crossing Novel - Book 7 Page 11
