“Yeah, let’s go.”
Back in their room, Julian retrieved the book and hopped onto the bed beside his wife.
“I think I have a way where we can distract everyone with noise and still get into that blocked off passage,” Tori said, grinning at him.
“I don’t trust Christina to not blow the place up, so if this is actually her plan and you’re torturing me, I pass.”
Tori snickered at the visual in her mind. “It’s my idea not hers, so you can relax. I got all my torturing out last night,” she purred, winking at him.
Julian swallowed. Yes, she absolutely had.
“How about we head into the passageway, and we have Kane ‘accidentally’ set off the house alarm. All he has to do is hit the button next to the front door and disappear. That will buy us a few minutes until someone gets there to enter the code. By then, we could have a few wooden slats down and voila! No one would be any the wiser.”
Julian thought about it as he handed his wife the book. “I think that could work. I like accident over felony any day.”
She loved when he was being all safe and logical. It was very much his thing. Tucking a hair behind his ear, she dropped a kiss onto his cheek. “Let’s start reading,” she suggested, and they did just that.
Two hours later, they got through quite a few pages in the book. Most were of Joseph Hesser’s private thoughts, but one thing was certainly clear. The man was growing fond of his wife. Over the next three months of journal entries, he began softening toward her. It was like he finally saw the truth.
She was the mother of his child.
Tori loved reading about them, since the story was beginning to bloom. Love began where it was thought to be cold and dead. Who would have thought that a man, who proclaimed his love for his scullery maid, would eventually fall in love with his own wife?
It was like a soap opera unfolding between them.
‘Today, I saw her for the first time. I mean really saw her. Her smile was so infectious as she spun my son in the air. I hid behind the curtain of my office window, just to watch her. The honey colored hair and laughter in her eyes enthralled me. Then it was followed by the shame of what I had done to her, my child, and us. What have I done? How had I not seen all that was before me? I’m a fool.
I made a horrible mistake.’
“Wow, he’s falling in love with her,” Julian said, knowing how that felt. He never started out planning on loving anyone in his life, and instead he fell hard.
“Yeah, he’s stepping up as a man, and realizing that he has a wife and kid to take care of now. It’s was a good thing.”
Julian rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked, running her fingers across his hair, as it splayed out over the bed.
“We have a lot of mysteries here. I usually can focus on them, but I feel like I’m not able to get a grip on even one.”
Tori understood. “We have a young girl who gave up her child, and then dies.”
“Yeah, who killed her?”
She couldn’t answer that. “Joseph paid her family off for years. Maybe his wife did. It’s possible that he found out and felt guilty.”
Julian wasn’t so sure. “If you were him, and the person you were married to killed your mistress, would you let it go? Could you sleep with that person nightly and not be scared shitless?”
Tori didn't know, especially since Joseph and Cherie weren’t in love at the time. “I don’t have an answer for that, but it was a different time.”
“Yeah, it was.”
“I think we need to find the book and clear up one case at a time. That will help us prove Jamie is a Hesser.”
“Yeah, I’m more concerned with who killed William Macavoy,” Julian admitted before continuing, “then who’s trying to hurt the Hessers. We have a ton of mystery and no way to sort it all out. Are they connected or separate?”
Tori hated to see her husband this overwhelmed. Julian liked everything to be neat and tidy when it came to business and life, but that wasn’t always the case.
Sometimes, you just had to roll with the punches and accept what the universe had handed out. In this case, they had a triple helping of mystery.
“We better head out to the bar,” Julian stated, rolling to his feet.
“I love you, Jules,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind. When his heart thumped under the palm of her hand, she relaxed. Julian would be fine once they whittled away at the caseload.
“I love you too, Tori, but stay away from the sheriff. It may put me into an insane asylum.
She snickered. “Yeah, well it wouldn’t be the first time,” Tori replied, slapping him on his jean clad ass. “I love to live on the edge.”
Julian rolled his eyes.
Didn't he know it?
* * *
In the bar, they found him all the way in the back, hidden in a booth. From his location, he could see the door. He picked a spot where there weren’t any windows to give away their meeting.
Once there, Tori and Julian slid into the booth.
“Hey, Sheriff,” Tori said cheerfully. “What do you have for us?” she inquired.
“I ran everyone on your list. Do you want to eat, and then talk or talk, and then eat?”
As the waitress approached, they all opted to order food first and work during.
When she was gone, they began.
“Okay, I ran your client and anyone else who lives in that house. All that I can tell you is that she had a rough childhood,” he stated, sipping his drink.
Julian and Tori didn't run background checks on their clients, so anything that the man told them was going to be a surprise. All that they really knew was that Jamie wanted to find her roots.
“When she was a kid, her whole family was killed in a fire. She was the only one who escaped. She lost her mother, father, and a foster child they had taken in and planned on adopting. Once the fire happened, she was forced into the system.”
“I thought she had a grandfather,” Tori said.
Beckett continued, “Yeah, she did, but he was in a nursing home. He had a stroke and was in no shape to care for a teenage girl.”
“That’s pretty sad,” Julian said. In his family, he was surrounded by people and couldn’t imagine what that felt like. Then, he glanced over at his wife, and his heart broke. She too, was an orphan, so to speak.
“Yeah, well now I feel bad for thinking she was just after the money,” Tori said, leaning back. “That would explain why she went through such work to get us to take this case. She really did want to find her past.”
The sheriff shrugged. “Well, she’s clean. We ran everything and nothing popped up. When she turned eighteen, she used her parent’s life insurance policy to go to college and start her life.”
“Good for her,” stated Julian.
“After Jamie, I moved on to the chef,” he began, but was stopped by Julian.
He told him about the other investigator’s case and what they learned about Thomas Kilpatrick.
“So, he’s bringing in women for Fredrick to carouse with. That’s interesting,” stated Beckett. “When I ran his past, he was fairly clean. He did have a DUI when he was in culinary school, and a few parking tickets. Other than that, he didn't pull our attention.”
“Yeah, except he’s pimping for his boss, and that screams anything but clean,” Tori added. “Who willingly does that unless there’s a strong motivation?”
“Money?” Julian offered. “Maybe he likes getting a little extra on the side.”
“Could be,” she stated. “He and Fredrick are about the same age. Did you find anything that connects them?” she asked, hopefully.
“Not really, but then again, I wasn’t looking to tie them together. I can have Deputy Marston do the search.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“Okay, we have the housekeeper, Sharla Wheaton. She was never married, has no cred
it cards, and has a really nice car that was paid by with cash.”
That played into the sugar daddy theory.
“I’m getting the impression that the Hesser family pays well,” Tori said.
“Yeah, from what the butler told me, they do. Once you’re part of the inner sanctum, they trust you to not spill the beans on any discretion which plays out. I’ve never heard a tabloid story about any of them from the inside. I’m sure those walls could tell some sordid stories. Fredrick isn’t exactly Mr. Innocent.”
They both agreed there.
“Jonathan could have been taking care of Sharla,” Tori stated. “He’s old school and a man was a man then. Plus, she was with him before his wife died. They go way back.”
“Then why would she hurt him?” Julian asked, trying to picture the woman as the suspect.
“Maybe she didn't,” Beckett said. “He was supplying her sexual needs, monetary ones, and giving her a decent life.”
“Yeah,” Tori began, “but if he wouldn’t marry her even after cheating on his wife, how long until she reached the end of her rope?”
Julian thought about it. “Or he started fooling around with someone else. Once a cheater, always one,” he stated. “We all know from working in law enforcement that jealousy ranks right up there with killing for love and money. They’re the top three.”
“I’ll keep looking,” stated Beckett.
“Who’s next?” asked Tori.
“Oh, well we have the butler. I almost hope that it’s him,” he stated.
They both stared at him curiously.
“Why?” Julian asked.
“So I can say that the butler did it,” he teased.
Tori started snickering. She offered him a fist bump for setting them up so well that they walked right into it. “Nice one.”
Julian shook his head in amusement. “What did you really find out on the butler?”
Beckett flipped through his notes until he found it. “He admitted to a really nice nest egg, and I found that he’s an orphan too. There’s no family to call his own, except the Hessers.”
Tori told him about what they noticed when Sharla had dropped the dishes in the dining room.
“So, do you think he’s crazy about her?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time some poor man was head over heels for a woman with unrequited love,” Tori stated.
Yeah, tell him about it.
That was the story of his life.
Beckett tried to not react but there was undeniable fact. Once a woman found out the truth, and he fell for a girl, chances were that she would run for her life. Apparently, he wasn’t relationship material and scared people away.
“Well, that gives us motive. It’s possible that he decided to eliminate the competition,” stated Julian. “Maybe he got tired of just watching the woman he was crazy about from afar. He may have decided to take matters into his own hand and get the girl.”
“He wouldn’t be the first or last,” Tori added.
All three were moving him up on the list, even though they couldn’t figure out why the man would go after Lorelei or Jamie. At this point, they were trying to patch anything together to find a solid suspect.
“My money is on the black sheep of the employee pool,” stated Beckett. “Leroy White has a list of prior arrests and is the dirty one in the group. He’s done time in jail for theft.”
“How did he end up working for the Hessers?” Tori asked.
“It seems that the prison he was staying in had an inmate program to help the attendees rehabilitate. Jonathan Hesser’s wife was in charge of it before she died. It was one of her pet projects. She saw something in Leroy and offered him a job when he got out. The man worked his way up the ladder until reaching the top.”
“So, why hurt the family who gave you a shot?” Tori asked, playing devil’s advocate. “We need more than he was a con at one time.”
They all thought about it.
“What if he isn’t interested in the family’s money, but instead it’s just plain old revenge. Let’s face it. The Hessers aren’t easy to work for. The jockey hates their guts, and Leroy has to work with Jonathan Hesser, valuing his horses more than people’s lives,” Tori suggested.
“At this point, it could be true, but then why is he after Jamie and Lorelei?” Julian asked.
“Wait,” Beckett said, stopping them. “What happened to Jamie?” he asked curiously.
They broke it down for him, letting the sheriff in on her ‘fall’ the previous night.
“She thinks that she was pushed?” he asked in alarm.
“Yeah, and since we’re trying to prove that she’s family, it’s looking like it’s connected.”
“This isn’t good,” he said, thinking about it.
Tori was still focused on Fredrick. “My concern is for the one who wasn’t attacked yet. He’s either next or behind it all. If this is a family attack, he’s marked.”
They agreed.
Julian threw it out there, “Yeah, well if I was trying to take out the family, I would have gone for him first.”
They both looked over at him.
Julian shrugged. “What? I’m being honest.”
Tori leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Yeah, you most certainly are,” she reassured.
“What about the guests?” Julian asked, as Tori’s hand gently stroked his thigh. It was stirring him up and reminding him of the previous night.
It wasn’t easy to focus.
“Well, you already knew about the Snyder couple. They are indeed private investigators, and let me tell you, they are one hell of a spectacle. I was able to scan their website and some of their cases. Can you say money hungry?”
Julian already knew it and told the man about the case that they were currently working. “Who works for a woman who sells her body, and wants to get revenge and a big payout?”
Tori thought about it. “The family will give her whatever she wants. If Lorelei is working on keeping the dirty laundry from airing out in public, she’ll make sure this is swept under the carpet.”
They both agreed, and yet that carpet could only hold so much of Fredrick’s dirty deeds. At some point, the truth would be set free.
“How about the Wests?” Julian asked, and then told them about his behavior in the gentlemen’s club. “He didn't care that he was married. He was the first one up to get his lap and needs serviced.”
Tori was skeeved out. “Yuck. I’d like to say I’m surprised, but his wife comes across as a whiny crybaby.”
Julian agreed. He was infinitely grateful that Tori was tough and feisty.
“Well, according to what we pulled up, he’s living outside his means. They have a giant house, a few luxury vehicles, and way too many credit card bills. It’s only a matter of time before it all caves in on them.”
Julian was also grateful that his babe was low maintenance. Tori wasn’t a shopper or a spender, unless you were talking about guns. She would buy one any day of the week.
Tori had a special name for them.
They were her business expenses.
“Were you able to find any relative connection to either Candy or Lawson west?” Tori asked. “Our initial thought was that someone was related and trying to get the lion share of the inheritance.”
“Not that we could find,” he stated.
Julian had another angle. “What about from a business angle? We know that he designed buildings for a living and that’s how he likely made all his money.”
Beckett scribbled a note. “I’ll see if I can find out if he ever worked for the Hessers on a building project.”
That was a good start. It would help them narrow down or eliminate them. Lawson and Candy West could just be there for the derby.
“They shelled out a shitload of cash as a donation to be here,” stated Tori. “If you’re hurting for funds, why do you give away the money that you need?”
Honestly, Beckett didn't think of that. “That’s
a really good question, and I’d love to ask them that. Do you think they’d spill their guts to me?” he teased.
Julian wouldn’t bet on it.
“Okay, out of curiosity, I need to ask. How much did it cost to get on the estate?” Beckett asked.
When they told him, he looked physically ill. “Seriously? That’s insane!”
They happened to agree.
“Okay, what about the last couple?” Tori asked. “Richard and Beverly Curry?”
Beckett immediately grinned like a school kid. The big dimple in his cheek appeared as did the sparkle in his green eyes. “Oh, well, I happened to save the best for last.”
That sounded promising.
“It seems that they are loaded, but it’s how they got their money that you’re going to find fascinating,” Beckett offered.
Julian could feel the man vibrating with excitement over what he had discovered. Beckett Rand was one of those people who obviously loved his job. He honestly found himself wishing that the man would be interested in working for him and Tori. It wasn’t easy to find people who were good at investigating.
“What did you find?”
“She’s a writer,” he stated calmly.
They both knew there had to be more than just that. He couldn’t be that excited over finding out the woman wrote books.
Could he be?
“What kind you ask?” he began, setting up the delivery. “Oh, well, let me tell you. Beverly Curry has an interesting job. She’s a self-proclaimed medium.”
“What?” they both said.
“You have a woman who is likely working on her next book in your midst, and she specializes in the dead.”
Julian and Tori stared at each other, mouths agape. It looked like the Currys just bumped themselves up the suspect list.
Right to the top.
This was one hell of a huge motive.
Chapter Twenty Three
Julian wanted to be sure that he had heard the man correctly. “Are you telling us that the older woman staying at the estate, is a practicing psychic?”
Lost & Broken (LIttlemoon Investigations Book 2) Page 34
