Harlequin Intrigue March 2021--Box Set 1 of 2

by Cindi Myers

  Jackson smiled and it transformed his face from that of the stern-and-stoic police officer into an almost boyish dimpled grin that made him look much younger.

  “I’m glad you like it,” he said, but didn’t answer her question.

  She pressed. “So where was it? Iraq? Afghanistan?”

  “Afghanistan. Marine just like my dad.”

  “Are your parents still alive?” she asked, wondering about her “partner” and his life.

  He spooned up some soup, ate it and nodded. “They live in Florida now, close to some of my cousins. Got tired of the Colorado cold, but they come back in the summer to visit.”

  “Must be nice,” she said, thinking of her parents and how much Selene and she had loved to spend time with them.

  He nodded and polished off the last of his meal. “It is. I miss them.”

  “You’re lucky to have family,” Rhea said wistfully, and Jackson quickly picked up on it.

  He raised his glass of soda and peered at her over the rim. “Is it just you and Selene?”

  “It is. My parents were both only children, and my grandparents are all gone. It’s why it’s so important to find her,” she said, and Jackson winced as she said it. He didn’t believe Selene was alive and didn’t want her to get her hopes up, but she’d keep hope alive as long as she could. Because of that, she said, “So, Partner. When do we start this investigation?”

  * * *

  AFTER THEY’D FINISHED LUNCH, Jackson had suggested that they go to his office at the police station, where he’d taken all the materials Rhea had gathered and locked them in his desk for safekeeping. Especially after what had happened at the inn the night before.

  If Matt had been the perpetrator, he might have not only intended to do harm to Rhea, but to also destroy the materials so that the police would not use that information against him.

  In the police station, Jackson got Rhea settled in one of their conference rooms so they could discuss her evidence. Normally he would set up a board with all the pertinent information, but since Rhea and he would have to move from Avalon and back, he had created a notebook in the cloud to hold the info, questions and any answers they gathered.

  He grabbed his laptop and her evidence and joined her in the room, where he displayed the digital information on a large monitor. As he laid out the hard copies, he said, “I locked these up to keep them safe, but I also plan on scanning everything and adding it to my notes.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate all your hard work,” she said. She splayed her long, elegant fingers, with their teasing rings of gold and silver, against the tabletop, almost as if to still any nervous motion.

  As he would with any board he made for an investigation, he talked through the info in the digital notebook, filling in Rhea as he worked.

  “There are three possible scenarios. The first is that Matt Davis murdered your sister. The second is that Selene killed herself. The third is that an unknown suspect murdered your sister.”

  “And another scenario is that Selene is still alive, and we need to find her,” Rhea added. Even though Jackson had only known her for a couple of days, he knew not to argue with her. At least not yet. In time the evidence would eventually rule out that possibility, but he wasn’t going to press the issue at that moment.

  Pick your battles, he reminded himself.

  He went through Rhea’s evidence, entering the information into his notes. As he did so, she jumped in with her thoughts to add to the materials. When they finished, it added up to a lot of questions and doubts about the story Selene’s husband had provided to officials, making him Number One on Jackson’s list of suspects. Which he should have been from the very beginning since the spouse was generally the prime suspect.

  But there were also questions about the other scenarios and overlaps. “If there was an SUV by Selene’s car that night, and if it wasn’t Matt, it’s possible that the owner of that vehicle may have something to do with Selene’s...disappearance,” he said, biting back the murder reference in respect of Rhea’s beliefs.

  “It is possible that SUV is tied to Selene’s...disappearance,” Rhea agreed, likewise holding back. “What do we do now?”

  Jackson rifled through the papers and pulled out her notes on the insurance policies that had been issued barely weeks before Selene’s disappearance. Holding up the papers, he said, “How was it that you found out about the policies?”

  “I got a call from an investigator from the insurance company. They were doing their own review about Selene’s disappearance since the policies were so new,” she said and gestured to the bottom of the page. “That’s his name and number.”

  Jackson thought about it for a moment. “Normally most policies are paid out very quickly. At the most, maybe sixty days after the death, but since they had questions, maybe we’ll get lucky.” He pulled over the conference room phone and dialed the investigator.

  “Winston Summers,” he answered after a couple of rings.

  “Good afternoon, Mr. Summers. This is Detective Jackson Whitaker with the Regina Police Department. You’re on speaker and I have Rhea Reilly with me, as well.”

  “Good afternoon, Detective. Ms. Reilly. How can I help you today?”

  Jackson shared a look with Rhea and plowed on. “I understand you were investigating the insurance policies issued to Matt and Selene Davis.”

  “I was, but we’re getting ready to close our case and pay out the policy on Mrs. Davis,” the investigator said.

  Jackson detected something in the other man’s tone. “You don’t sound too happy about that, Winston.”

  A rough laugh came across the line. “I’m not. I can’t prove a thing, but this just doesn’t smell right to me.”

  With a quick sidewise glance at Rhea, whose face had paled with those words, Jackson said, “It doesn’t feel right to us, either. That’s why we’ve reopened the case here in Regina.”

  “Well, you’ve made my day, Detective. No offense meant, Ms. Reilly. Now that you’ve done that, I’ll tell my superiors to hold off on the payout,” Winston said.

  Jackson laid his hand over Rhea’s and squeezed reassuringly. “I’d appreciate that. If you don’t mind, I’d like to tell Matt Davis myself about that decision.”

  Summers chuckled. “I understand, Detective. I’m sure he won’t be happy. I hope that helps your case.”

  Jackson provided Summers with his contact info and hung up.

  Rhea was confused by the investigator’s statements. She shook her head and said, “Why will it help the case?”

  “It’ll make Matt angry and angry people act rashly. They make mistakes, and those mistakes may help us find out what really happened to Selene.”

  Rhea blew out a breath. “Matt will be pissed, especially if his business is still having problems.”

  Jackson flipped through her papers again. “You say Matt was having financial issues at the time Selene disappeared?”

  She nodded. “Selene had told me business had fallen off and his bills were mounting. That was creating a lot of tension in their marriage.” She hesitated, remembering how upset her sister had been, as well as something troubling. “I think that’s when I first spotted the bruises on Selene.”

  “The pressure blew off his lid. Revealed his true nature. Hopefully our visit, and the news about the insurance policy, will do the same. Are you up to going to Avalon?”

  Am I up to it? she thought, but then an image of Matt’s smug face flashed through her brain. He hadn’t even tried to deny the abuse when she’d confronted him shortly after her sister’s disappearance.

  “I am so up for it. If Selene is dead, I’m sure Matt did it, and I want to prove that,” she said, her throat tightening as she said the words.

  Jackson’s touch came against her hand again, comforting and secure. His palm rough, but soothing. “We’ll go in the mo
rning.”

  Which meant she had to spend another night at the inn. Another sleepless night, watching the doors and windows for signs of an intruder.

  “You’ll stay with me tonight,” he said, almost as if he’d read her mind.

  She peered at him, weighing the risk he presented to her in a very different way, but if they were going to see Matt tomorrow, she had to be sharp.

  “Thank you, Detective. That’s very kind of you.”

  He raised a hand to stop her, like a cop directing traffic. “Just part of the job,” he said, but she doubted that it was standard procedure to take partners home.

  When he rose, he grimaced, grabbed his back and stretched, as if to work out a knot. She realized then that they’d been sitting for hours reviewing the case. A second later, his stomach emitted a loud rumble that he tried to hide by covering his lean midsection with his big hand.

  “Sorry,” he said with a chagrined smile.

  “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how late it was. How about I treat you to dinner?”

  He did another stretch of that long lean body and grimaced again. “Actually, I have a nice big steak I was going to cook tonight. How about we pick up your things and we throw the steak on the grill? It’s enough for two.”

  Since she felt like she was already imposing on him, she deferred to his request. “That sounds nice. Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me just yet. My cooking skills leave a lot to be desired.”

  She doubted that. Detective Whitaker struck her as someone who was likely quite capable in many ways, which brought a rush of unwanted heat as her mind drifted where it shouldn’t. To hide her reaction, she turned her attention to organizing the papers scattered around the table while Jackson scooped up his laptop.

  She handed him her notes, and he stood before her uncertainly, his gaze traveling over her face, examining her. But surprisingly, he seemed to misunderstand what she was feeling. “It’ll be okay, Rhea. Everything is going to work out.”

  She went with it, not wanting to clue him in to how uneasy he made her on a personal level. “I know it will,” she said and tilted her head in the direction of the door. “I guess it’s time for us to go.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  It was time to go, and Jackson hoped he wasn’t making a big mistake by taking Rhea home with him. But he’d barely gotten any sleep the night before thanks to the intruder at the inn. He needed a clear head tomorrow when they spoke to Matt Davis, which meant he needed to get some rest.

  But as he caught sight of Rhea’s slim but enticing figure as she walked out the door, his gut tightened with desire, and he wondered just how much sleep he was actually going to get.

  In no time they had checked Rhea out of the inn and were at Jackson’s home on the outskirts of town. The log cabin home was on a large wooded lot that provided gorgeous views of the lake below and the dam’s spillway in the distance.

  “This is lovely,” she said as she set down her suitcase, walked through his home and out to the large deck that faced the lake.

  He shrugged. “Thanks. My dad and I built the place when I got back from Afghanistan.”

  “You did an amazing job,” she said, leaning against the railing and glancing back toward his home.

  “Let me show you to the guest room,” he said, walked back in and snared her suitcase. He took her upstairs to a room a few doors down from his and set her things by a queen-size bed. With a flip of his hand, he said, “The bathroom is across the way if you need it. I’m going to get started on dinner.”

  “Let me help,” she said, and they returned to the ground floor where the open-concept space held the kitchen, dining room and living room with a wall of glass that opened to the deck and offered views of the lake, mountains and Regina.

  They prepped a salad and sliced up some potatoes and onions to cook on the grill beside a large steak. Since it was still nice outside, they decided to eat out on the deck.

  Rhea stood by Jackson as he laid the potatoes, onions and steak on the grill. Contrary to what he’d said earlier, he was quite a capable cook and the meal they ate was simple, but delicious.

  Unlike lunch, dinner was a quieter affair, maybe because they had already done a lot of talking during the day. Although Jackson offered an after-dinner coffee, Rhea was eager for some time alone to think about all that had happened the last few days and what would happen in the days to come.

  She helped Jackson clean up, but when she offered to help him wash, he demurred. “It’s okay. I can handle this.”

  He could. He seemed to be able to handle a lot, from cooking to building a house. She told herself to have faith that he would handle the investigation of her sister’s disappearance as capably.

  “Thank you for everything,” she said as she inched up on her tiptoes and brushed a kiss across his cheek before making her escape. She noticed his home was almost spartan, but had fabulous bones and stunning views. There were a few bedrooms upstairs, hinting at the fact that the detective hadn’t planned on living there alone.

  Which made her wonder if he’d built the home with someone special in mind.

  She forced that thought away and went to her room. Although it was early, she was tired and wanted to be at her best when they confronted Matt. Closing her door, she changed quickly and got into bed, hoping to make it an early night.

  * * *

  JACKSON STOOD AT the sink, listening for the familiar creak of the floorboards just inches away from the landing and in front of the first bedroom. More than once he’d thought about fixing it, but it served as a very reliable alarm system.

  The creak came as Rhea went across the hall to the bathroom and then back, telling him it was safe to head up once he finished the dishes. He took his time, thinking about the materials they’d reviewed earlier, as well as planning an approach to Matt Davis tomorrow.

  If Davis was as Rhea had said, he’d be less than pleased about their reopening the case and holding up the insurance payout. He’d push the other man in the hopes of either eliminating Matt from that prime suspect spot or collecting enough evidence to be able to charge him for Selene’s murder.

  Selene’s murder.

  Rhea wouldn’t handle it well if that’s what the evidence proved, but it would at least bring closure. Even if that closure brought pain.

  He finished the dishes and went upstairs, careful to step around the creaky floorboards to not wake Rhea. Once he was in bed, he returned to his earlier thoughts, planning tomorrow’s mission. The approach and what would follow if Matt’s alibis failed to satisfy the many questions he had.

  He was just starting to drift off, the plan running through his brain, when he heard the warning squeak that someone was in the hall. A second later, a soft footfall, someone barefoot, alerted him that Rhea was coming down the hall.

  His door was open, and he rose up on one elbow as the shadow of her petite figure came into view. She leaned her hand on the doorjamb and, in barely a whisper, she said, “I can’t sleep.”

  * * *

  JACKSON SAT UP, revealing a broad bare chest with a smattering of chest hair angling down...

  Rhea wouldn’t think about where that happy trail led, and was reconsidering her visit when he said, “Bed is plenty big, and I’ve got lots of pillows.” He grabbed a couple and laid them down the center of the king-size bed, creating an effective bundling board.

  “Thank you. I promise not to be a bother.” She hurried to the side of the bed where he wasn’t, slipping beneath the sheets. They were smooth, but slightly warm from where he’d been lying earlier.

  The bed dipped a little as he settled down again. “Good night, Rhea,” he said, his voice husky.

  “Good night...Jax.”

  * * *

  RHEA WOKE TO an empty bed and the smell of coffee and bacon.

  Hurrying, she washed, dressed and met Jac
kson in the kitchen, where he was forking perfectly crisp bacon slices onto a plate.

  “How do you like your eggs?” he said.

  She didn’t have the heart to tell him she normally didn’t eat breakfast. “Whatever is easiest.”

  In no time, he was cracking eggs one-handedly and scrambling them like a pro.

  She poured cups of coffee and asked, “Milk and sugar?”

  “Cream and two sugars, please,” he said, and she smiled.

  “Just like me,” she said, earning her a heated look and a laugh.

  “Light for sure. A good wind could blow you away, but sweet?” he teased.

  She laughed and shook her head. “I can be difficult at times,” she admitted.

  He lifted an eyebrow in challenge, but she ignored him easily, especially when he laid a plate of eggs, bacon and toast before her and the smells awakened her hunger. She dug into the meal with gusto.

  In truth, she was much lighter than she had been six months ago because she hadn’t been sleeping or eating well, worrying about what had happened to Selene. Hoping against hope that the feeling inside her that Selene was still alive wasn’t wrong.

  She was so famished, she finished her plate well before Jackson had finished his, prompting his laughter. “Girl, you sure can put it away.”

  “And you can sure cook. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome, but we should get going. Avalon isn’t all that far away, but we’ve got a lot to do.”

  In a rush, they cleaned up and were on their way to Selene’s hometown, which was only about forty-five minutes away from Regina and two hours from Rhea’s home and gallery in Denver.

  Rhea had done the drive many times before tensions between her and Matt had cropped up and the trips had become one-sided, with Selene only visiting Denver for their girls’ weekends.

  As they drove, Rhea went over the discrepancies in Matt’s alibi. “He said he was gone for only about an hour to check out his client’s building location, but I spoke to the neighbors and they said that he was gone for a lot longer. At least three hours if not more.”