Penance (Oak Grove Suspense Book 2)

by Reese A. Stephens

  “I can’t imagine there’s that much going on there to keep you busy,” I laugh.

  “Hence the reason for a tri-state area,” he jokes. “There’s not a ton of white collar issues in those areas, but enough that I’ll be all over the place at any given time.”

  “Will you let me know if you find anything out on Lyon? I have a bit of a situation I think I could use your help on.”

  “Sure, no problem. So, tell me about Mathis. What’s going on with him?”

  I sigh. “Last sighting was in Richmond, but he hasn’t been spotted since. That was almost two weeks ago. It’s got me worried.”

  “What’s Riley have to say?”

  “Not much. He and Howard have been searching, but Mathis is being really careful now. I have a gut feeling he’s on the way back here.”

  Marsh blows out a breath. “We’ll get him. I’ll see what all I have access to when I get moved. I start on Monday, so it’ll be a quick pack and move trip. My girl is not happy at all.”

  I smile, Marsh had started dating the daughter of a retired Senator about a year ago and he’d planned to pop the question last Christmas, but chickened out.

  “Is she going with you?”

  “For now she’s staying in Seattle. I’ll still be traveling a lot. I don’t know if she wants to deal with that or not. She says it’s fine, but I’m not so sure. I really don’t know if I care, as horrible as that sounds; I love her, but lately it feels forced.”

  “That sucks, man. I don’t know what to tell you.”

  “Ehh, don’t worry about it. We’ll see how it goes. If it doesn't work out, I’ll be fine.”

  “Keep me posted on what you can find out about Lyon. I have a bunch of crap to take care of before I can head home.”

  “Sure thing. Give the Mrs. and that baby a kiss for me.”

  “Will do. Later, man.”

  I hang up and glance at my desk, which has files and papers scattered over it. I pick up a picture of Richard Lyon and drop it back in its place. I sure hope that Marsh can help me get to the bottom of this case so Judson can move on with his life and hopefully find his daughter.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Ryan

  Laney is bouncing Hannah on her lap when I come through my front door. “Hey, you guys ready to go?”

  Laney smiles. “Yep. She’s ready and I packed her bag. Faith and Dylan came by to grab some things. Dylan said he’s staying over with some friends tonight after the game.”

  I nod. “Yeah, he sent me a text. Let me take a quick shower and change, then we can get dinner and head to the game. I’d like to swing by the hospital on our way and drop off food for Shay.”

  “Sounds good, big brother.”

  She chuckles before she goes back to chatting with Hannah, who giggles and squeals. I hurry through my shower and dress quickly. When I come back into the living room, Laney is singing silly songs with Hannah, who is clapping and “singing” along with her. I watch the two of them for a few minutes. Laney will make an incredible mother someday.

  “Ready?” I ask as their song comes to a close.

  “We are.” Laney looks back at me and grins. “I’ll get her in the car if you can grab the diaper bag.”

  I agree and follow them out to the car, opening the back door for Laney. She buckles Hannah into her car seat. We both get situated and are off. I glance in her direction. She seems to be lost in thought. Something tells me that it’s related to Judson.

  “Where do you want to eat?”

  “Let’s go to Jose’s. I’m in the mood for a chimichanga,” Laney moans, rubbing her belly and flopping back against the seat.

  “You’re obsessed, but Mexican does sound great. So, what did you do today?”

  “I took a personal day today, so I just lazed around my house.”

  I give her a skeptical look. “Okay, fine. I went over to Jud’s this morning and he wasn’t there, so I called you. I went back over there later and talked to him.”

  “And?”

  “I got the door slammed in my face.” I look at her in surprise. “Fine, he didn’t slam it, but he did ask me to leave and not come back. It makes no sense. He promised just yesterday that he would try. He freaking kissed me, Ryan!”

  This was news. “Kissed you?”

  “Yes! Before he left to confront Grant, he kissed me. What in the world could have been so horrible that he’d change his mind about everything?”

  I run my hand through my hair. What can I say? I can’t tell her something that Judson doesn’t want her to know about yet. “Lots of things, Lane,” I say lamely. “Just give him some space. I’ve been telling you that since you started pursing him. He needs time.”

  She looks offended. “I’m not pursing him! I was trying to be a friend. Everyone else has abandoned him.”

  “It may look that way, Lane, but I’ve talked to Emily.” I glance at her to make sure she is listening. “She and their whole family have tried to help him but he keeps pushing them away.” I turn back to the wheel. “You can’t force someone to get help.”

  “So, you think he’s pushing me away because I want to help him?”

  “All I’m saying is he has his reasons. Just let him be for now. You’ve helped him get to a better place already. Don’t ruin whatever relationship you have by smothering him to death.”

  She huffs and crosses her arms over her chest. “I’m not smothering him. I do realize that maybe I have gone a bit overboard, but I will give him space. It’s just that I love him, Ryan.”

  “He’ll come around, but you need to give him some time to sort things out.”

  “I’ll try.”

  We arrive at Jose’s moments later and are seated immediately. I laugh at the giddy look on my sister’s face when she orders her chimichanga. Dinner is nice. We don’t speak of Judson again, instead we talk about work, our mother, Shayla, and the kids. We even speak about taking a family vacation to the beach. This is Dylan’s final year of school, and the more I think about it, the more I realize this may be my last chance for a vacation with the entire family. I make a mental note to talk to Shayla and my brothers about setting it up. God knows we need a mindless retreat after what we’ve all been through the past few years. After dinner, true to my word, I swing by the hospital to bring Shayla her dinner. She’s standing at the nurses’ station with a chart in her hand, giving one of the nurses instructions as a walk up beside her. She turns to me and smiles.

  “Mexican?” she asks hopeful.

  “Got your favorite, boring ol’ chicken nachos, without the chips,” I say with a shake of my head.

  She laughs. “I hope you asked for lots of lettuce instead.”

  “Of course,” I reply, feigning indignation, “and I had them put it on the side so they wouldn’t wilt.”

  She leans up on her tiptoes and kisses me. “Thank you. I’m starving. Come sit in my office while I eat?”

  “Can’t. We’re on the way to Dylan’s game. Laney is in the car with Hannah, she’s sleeping.”

  “Oh, I totally forgot about his game!” she says, closing her eyes. “God! I’m a horrible mother.”

  I pull her to me and kiss her forehead. “No, you’re just busy right now. Just send him a good luck text. You know he understands.”

  “You’re right, but I still hate that I’m not there.” She pulls back quickly, looking up at me. “Hey, did you call me from a different phone today?”

  My eyebrows pinch as suspicion sets in. “No, why?”

  “Oh, must’ve been a bad connection or wrong number. I just got a call today and couldn’t hear the caller. I meant to phone you, but I got called to the ER for a consultation and forgot.”

  I breathe in deeply to calm down. I’m sure it was nothing so for now, I’ll let it go, but if it happens again, then I’ll investigate. I’m not sure what methods Mathis may try to get to her so I need to be on guard just in case it’s him.

  “Let me know if it happens again.”

  “I
will.”

  “I better go,” I say, wishing I could stay longer.

  “Thanks for dinner. I love you.”

  “Love you more than anything,” I whisper in her ear as I hug her tight.

  “You okay?”

  Cupping her face, I beam. “Yep, just wanted you to know.”

  She smiles sweetly as she presses her lips to mine. The kiss, like always, ignites that spark in me, making me want more, but as much as I wish she didn’t have to work right now, she does. She smiles and pulls away from me before picking up her dinner. I watch her until she disappears down the hall to her office, then hurry back to my car.

  “Everything good?” Laney asks.

  “Yep,” I glance at Hannah. “Should we go see bubbie play?”

  She squeals and starts clapping her hands together excitedly.

  “I think that’s a yes,” Laney says with a laugh.

  “I think so too.”

  We head out of the parking lot and make our way to the game. It’s crowded tonight and it takes us a little bit to find a good spot. After gathering all of Hannah’s things, we take our spot on the bottom rung of the bleachers. Dylan sees us immediately and waves towards us.

  “Do you see bubbie?” I ask as we both wave towards him.

  Dylan’s game is one of the best I’ve seen from him. He plays well and the team wins by a wide margin. He makes sure he sees me before he leaves, but he’s so excited on the win that he doesn’t chat long before he’s scooping up Faith in his arms and twirling her around happily. Seeing them both act like seventeen year olds and not a middle-aged couple does my heart good. They are young and deserve to act it, at least once in a while. Hannah is tired and a bit fussy when we make it back to my house. I reach to take her from Laney, but she shakes her head.

  “Do you mind if I put her to bed?”

  I smile sadly at my sister. “Not at all, I’ll defrost her milk.”

  “Okay, I’ll go change her.”

  By the time I have Hannah’s breast milk warmed and in a bottle, Laney is rocking and singing softly to her. I hand her the bottle and sit on the stool across from her as Han latches on greedily. Tears slip down my sister’s face. I squeeze her knee.

  “You okay, Lane?”

  “He would’ve been five,” she whispers as her tears come more forcefully.

  “Do you want me to take her?”

  She shakes her head. “I’m okay, it just hits me sometimes. Ya know?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  I can’t imagine what it must feel like to lose a child. Even a miscarriage is life-altering. Her marriage ended because of the loss of the tiny one inside her. There’s nothing I can do to help her with anything right now and it breaks my heart.

  She sniffs and smiles. “It was for the best. I mean, I didn’t want my baby to die, I don’t mean that, but my marriage was in shambles anyway. Losing him was for the best.” She clears her throat and wipes her eyes. “You know, I saw him a few weeks ago. He’s still a complete jerk. He was with some woman. She was all over him and when he saw me, he just stared at me as he pawed at her. It was disgusting.”

  “I never liked him.” She glances at me and I smirk. “Yes, I know I didn’t even know him, but anyone who treats you badly deserves my disdain. So, I could call some people,” I trail off suggestively.

  She giggles. “As much as I’d like for you to bust him for something huge, it’s fine. He can live his life being the cocky arrogant jerk he is, never finding true love, and I can continue to live my life, knowing that the man I love will love me back one day.”

  “Lane …”

  She holds her hand up and stops me. “I know, you think I’m being stupid waiting for Jud, but I feel it deep inside me. How would you feel if this was Shayla? I mean, don’t you remember that you never took no for an answer? You didn’t back off, you kept pushing her and she relented. Why is what I want with Judson so different? Because he’s the guy?”

  I shake my head. I’d never even thought of it that way. “I guess it’s no different, but there are a lot of things I wish I would have done differently with Shayla. I don’t want you making the same mistakes I have.”

  “I know.” She rolls her eyes at me and I smile. My stubborn sister! “I will give Judson space, but please try to understand that I’m not giving up, I can’t. I love him. It’s crazy, I know, but I do. I think I always have.”

  Nodding, I stand and press a kiss to my sister’s head, then on my now sleeping daughter. “Turn the monitor on when you leave.” She nods. “One day, Laney, you’ll have this.” I run my hand over my daughter’s head. “I know you will.”

  She smiles and gets a mischievous look on her face. “Jud and I will make lots of beautiful babies.”

  I roll my eyes before leaving her to tend to Hannah and head to my office. I have a lot to get caught up on. My first priority should be finding Ralph Clark’s killer and getting to the bottom of the mess Lyon has made, but I can’t stop thinking about Mathis. The phone call Shayla received today was probably nothing, but the paranoia inside will not ease. I sit at my desk and start the process of opening up all the different programs Riley and Howard have set up for me. I have five different computers set up on my oversized desk. As they come to life, I grab my phone and send Marsh a quick text.

  Call me when you can.

  Finding Mathis has never been easy. It takes hours of going through facial recognition software and that’s if we have a lead. Going completely from scratch can take days. Luckily, Riley confirmed that he was seen at his grandparents’ house in Richmond. I’ll start with running a check in that area and then move forward towards me. Unfortunately, I just know in my gut he’s coming here. My phone rings and I see that it’s Marsh.

  “Hey, man.”

  “Sorry, it took so long. I was in a meeting.”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Guess what?” he asks but before I can answer he says, “I got your area.”

  “Yeah? That’s awesome. So, when will you be over this way?”

  “Soon. I told my director about Lyon and apparently he’s been on the radar for a while, but he’s just one of the minions of the organization. He’s not even near the top of the food chain. There’s a few leads on whom he might be associated with, but nothing concrete.”

  “That’s more than what I have right now. Where will you be staying?”

  “You got a spare room?”

  I laugh. “Of course and you’re more than welcome to use it. When should we expect you?”

  “Probably in the next couple of days. I need to work out a few things here first. I think it’ll be easier for me to have a place over that way. The way things look right now; I’ll only be coming to D.C. for meetings and check-ins. There’s an office in northern Tennessee where I’ll be stationed. I think its maybe forty-five minutes from where you are.”

  “That’s fantastic. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding a place, but you’re welcome to stay with us as long as you’d like.”

  “Thanks, Ryan. I appreciate that. Hopefully, it won’t take me too long to get settled. What were you needing when you texted me?”

  I’d almost forgotten. “Have you heard anything from Riley about Mathis?”

  “Last update I received was to tell me he was in Richmond. What’ve you heard?”

  “Nothing. I’m running a check right now. I’ve gotten a few hits around Richmond and one just outside in Mechanicsville, but it doesn’t look like he’s coming this way. At least not yet,” I add with a sigh.

  “Good. Why don’t I contact Jon and Paul, and see if they can find anything?”

  “Yeah, Riley mentioned doing that, but the guys are on a mission. It might take them a few days before they can check into Mathis.”

  Marsh hums into the phone. “I think I might be able to get some men to investigate a bit. How long ago was he spotted in Mechanicsville?”

  “Hold on, let me pull it up.” I tap on my screen until the photo pops
up so I can check the time signature. “It looks like yesterday at four-forty-five.”

  “No other hits after?”

  “Not yet, but it’s still running. He could be anywhere. Especially, if he sticks to the back roads.”

  “Well, it’s a start. We’ll find him, Ryan.”

  “Yeah,” I reply half-heartily.

  “Ryan.”

  “I know, I know, we’ll find him.”

  “I’ll get back to you.”

  “Talk to ya later.”

  After ending the call with Marsh, I stare at my computer trying to find a pattern in Mathis’ activity, but I find nothing. Sighing, I switch gears back to the case I should be giving all my attention to, Ralph Clark and how he ended up dead on Judson’s property and how Grant McMann fits into all of this. Thanks to Riley and his programming, I’m able to pull up just about everything on Grant McMann. He’s pretty clean, minus the parking tickets and DUI, which I knew from previous checks, but the amount of money this guy spends is insane. His credit report is a disaster. It looks like he’s maxed out everything he has and he’s late on almost everything. I don’t think there’s really any way that Grant will give us any leads, unless I set him free and have him followed, which might not be such bad idea. A soft knock on my office door startles me out of my thoughts.

  “Hey, you almost finished in here?”

  “Yeah, you need to go?” She shakes her head. She still looks sad and lost. “You okay?”

  “I’m just being overly emotional, but I’ll be fine.”

  “You’re going to be a great mom, Lane.”

  “Thanks.” She sits down on the second office chair. “I think I’m so crazy right now because Judson is pushing me away. It’s bringing back all those feelings I had when Lucas left and I lost the baby. I know my relationship with Judson is nothing like what I had with Luke, but I guess it’s triggered those feelings again.”

  “Laney, you can’t compare Jud to Luke. I mean, I didn’t know the guy, but from what everyone said, he was a complete jerk to you. Judson isn’t pushing you away because of anything you’ve done. He’s going through a lot right now and like I’ve said several times already, you have to give him time.”