Justice Hunter

by Jennifer Morey

  She ran her hands inside his shirt and leaned down to kiss him. He slid an arm around her and held her head as he rolled her off the side of the couch. He came down on top of her and kissed her hard. She began tugging at his pants.

  They would have sex.

  Her secrets had allowed a killer to go free. While he understood her reasons, his sister’s murder hadn’t been solved because of her. More than that began to cool his desire. The uncontrollable heat of it, and his growing feelings for her, also played into it. He wasn’t ready for this serious of a relationship. His sister’s murder had to come first. Trust had to come second. Was Rachel trustworthy? What if she withheld more information?

  He lifted his head. His erection pressed against her warm center. He could just get their pants out of the way and satisfy the raging passion. So tempting.

  But he climbed to his feet with a grunt, looking down at her on the floor, blouse ripped, breasts exposed, long, sexy legs coming together.

  She sat up and turned away from him, holding her blouse together.

  “We should get going. I’ll meet you in the car out front.” He walked to his bedroom to shower.

  Rachel had her own off the guest room. He’d imagine her in there with him the entire time. He’d have to keep the water cold to calm down his body.

  * * *

  Angie’s brother worked at the local elementary school as a kindergarten teacher in a town thirty miles from Bozeman. Rachel stopped at the classroom door. Through the vertical window, twenty kids dried rock salt on paper towels. Some of the kids had moved on to the next step of drawing the outline of a flower or a fish. The last step would be the use of the glue bottles, creating a piece of art on construction paper. She entered the room. Four years older, Clinton slicked back his hair and had the length of it in a tie at the base of his neck. He knelt beside one of the kids, helping to drain food-colored rocks.

  He saw them, and after getting the child going, stood and came to them. “Hello. What can I do for you?”

  He must recognize that they weren’t the parents of any of the kids.

  “I’m Lucas Curran, and this is Rachel Delany. You’re Angie Johnson’s brother?”

  The friendly light in his eyes faded. His sister had been gone four years and he was still struggling.

  “Are you police? Is there a break in her case? The sheriff didn’t tell me.”

  “I’m a private detective. My sister was murdered close to the same time as yours.”

  “We think the two are related,” Rachel said. “Angie took out an insurance policy through HealthFirst and came to meet with Jared Palmer shortly before her murder.”

  “Yeah. Sheriff Bailey questioned him and some others there. She had surgery, and the policy didn’t cover what she expected. Jared wouldn’t talk to her or return her calls, so she wrote the letter to complain. She got no response from that and kept calling him until he finally agreed to meet. He denied ever selling her a policy. She was going to hire an attorney, but police didn’t find any policy, which corroborated Jared’s claim. She didn’t save any copies of the plan because the health insurance company didn’t give her any. It was all done over the phone.”

  “When did she pay for the policy?”

  “He arranged a welcome meeting for her, gave her cookies and coffee and took her money. Said he’d mail her copy of the policy. The sheriff has nothing to go on.”

  Rachel glanced at Lucas. That may have been intentional, Jared not giving policy buyers copies of what they purchased. Charmed them into believing they were getting a great deal and that they’d be treated well, only to rob them.

  “We found a letter she wrote to Jared,” she said.

  Clinton perked up. “Police didn’t find that. Jared let them search the customer database, and they didn’t find anything.”

  No evidence of a policy? Had Jared scrubbed the books and eliminated any trace of the money Angie had given him? He’d allowed police to search the customer database, but what about his personal files? She and Lucas hadn’t found anything yet.

  “I told her not to pay cash for an insurance policy, but she did anyway. My sister wasn’t the best with her finances.”

  “So police didn’t think Jared had anything to do with her murder?”

  “Oh, no. The lead detective thinks he has plenty to do with it. He just can’t prove anything. Couldn’t even get probable cause to get a search warrant.”

  Lucas glanced over at Rachel, and she caught the fleeting accusation in that silent message. It had been awkward ever since she’d climbed on top of him. His angst that she’d withheld information may have been what stopped him from finishing. And she’d have let him. Her passion had carried her that far away in a short period of time.

  “Who was the last person to see her alive?”

  “Mom.” Clinton rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s killing her.” He dropped his hand. “They had lunch together. Angie left the restaurant and that’s the last anyone saw of her until her body turned up.”

  “Who did the sheriff question at HealthFirst?” Lucas asked.

  “A lot of people. Jared, his partner, the administrative staff, people in Contracts and Finance. No one could say anything about fraudulent insurance policies.”

  A five-year-old boy tugged on Clinton’s pant leg. His fingers were covered in food coloring. “I spilled my paint.”

  Rachel looked to his area on the floor and saw the bowl he’d used to dye his rocks had indeed spilled.

  “One second, Kevin,” Clinton said to the boy, and then to Lucas, “Are you going to catch him?”

  “Yes,” Lucas answered, and his certainty convinced Rachel. “I just have one more question.”

  “Anything. I hope I can help.”

  “Did the sheriff talk to the Bozeman police?”

  The schoolteacher and brother to a murdered sister frowned. “I don’t know. He didn’t say, so I guess not. Why?”

  “My sister was murdered in Bozeman.”

  Jared’s company was in Bozeman. Angie had lived here, in a small town thirty miles from the city.

  * * *

  Sheriff Bailey took his feet off his desk and put the newspaper down as Lucas and Rachel entered. Lucas subdued his excitement at the prospect of what he might learn from this meeting. He introduced himself and Rachel.

  “Luella Palmer?” Sheriff Bailey repeated the name Lucas had given as his sister’s. “The name isn’t familiar.”

  His investigative instincts weren’t as sharp as Lucas hoped. Any good sheriff would check surrounding towns for clues, wouldn’t he? This day and age, law enforcement worked together. In his early sixties, the sheriff must’ve still been stuck back in a small-town mentality.

  “She was married to Jared Palmer,” Lucas said.

  Sheriff Bailey’s eyes perked up. “Forgive me. It’s been so long, and my wife just passed after five years fighting cancer.” He tapped his head. “My head isn’t quite what it used to be.”

  That explained a lot. “I’m sorry,” Lucas said.

  “You think her murder is related to Angie Johnson’s,” the sheriff said.

  Rachel had wandered to a bookshelf in the office, reading titles.

  “Luella may have discovered something that got her killed, yes.”

  Sheriff Bailey walked around his desk to a file cabinet and opened a drawer.

  Behind Lucas, Rachel looked through a mess of magazines and papers on a coffee table in front of an old couch. Was she just curious or looking for something useful?

  When the sheriff put the file down on the coffee table, she sat next to him. Lucas walked around and sat beside her. The sheriff opened the file.

  Rachel leaned back and averted her eyes when the first photograph of Angie’s dead body appeared.

  “S
orry.” The sheriff turned over the photo.

  Lucas picked it up. Angie lay in a low-lying area, shot once in the head. Branches covered her, but wind and weather had moved them over the days she’d lain there. It was strikingly similar to Luella’s murder. Shot in the head. Dumped in a natural ditch. Branches put over her.

  “No murder weapon. No DNA,” Sheriff Bailey said.

  “There wasn’t in Luella’s case, either.” He felt Rachel look up at him, the sound of his voice giving away what seeing these photos did.

  Sheriff Bailey handed him a few pages. “Jared’s statement.”

  Lucas took the pages and read the first few lines.

  “He has a tight alibi for the time frame Angie was killed.”

  “He’s paying someone,” Rachel said.

  Loving how she lightened his mood by falling into amateur detective mode, Lucas read the report with less gravity. Jared had worked late when Angie had been killed. A janitor and computer data had confirmed it.

  “Did you work through Bozeman police?” Lucas asked.

  “No. After I checked out his alibi, I didn’t see much point.” The sheriff leafed through the file. “But in retrospect, I can see that was a bad decision.”

  “You had no way of knowing Jared’s wife was killed.”

  And his own wife had been dying.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” Sheriff Bailey asked.

  Lucas handed the pages back to him. “See if you can find anyone else you might have missed who either saw Angie or spoke to her about the insurance policy. Revisit your case. Start from scratch, except leave Jared to me.”

  The sheriff took the pages and put them back into the file. He’d have a second chance to make it right.

  Next, Lucas handed the man his card. “Call me if you find anything. Day or night.”

  Sheriff Bailey nodded. “I will.”

  * * *

  Back in Bozeman, Lucas and Rachel were brought up from the lobby of HealthFirst after a security guard announced their arrival to Eldon’s assistant. At least Eldon hadn’t refused to see them.

  “You’ve got balls coming here after what you tried to pull off.” Sitting behind a big desk, Eldon Sordi looked at Rachel. “It’s good to see you again. I never had a chance to tell you I didn’t know you and Jared were seeing each other, and that I thought you were a hard worker.”

  He hadn’t known? She found that difficult to believe, but she couldn’t help feeling good about his compliment. In a sleek gray suit and salt-and-pepper hair, he made a handsome example of what she’d once believed she wanted in a man. But he’d turned out to be a womanizer just like Jared. Maybe something a little more earthy suited her best.

  She glanced over at Lucas before saying to Eldon, “Hello, Mr. Sordi.”

  “I was disappointed to learn you were with Mr. Curran here, after he broke into my building.”

  She’d never had an issue with Eldon. He was older than Jared and a gentleman, except for his excessive taste in women and posh parties, which she hadn’t discovered until after she’d learned of Jared’s misconduct.

  “There’s no proof we broke in,” Lucas said.

  “Just because the camera didn’t record you? Are you the one who shot it out? And I don’t suppose you know what happened to one of my cook’s badges. Strange, how we only have his word now that the system has experienced a peculiar failure.”

  Rachel looked at Lucas again. Had his boss taken care of that?

  Lucas said nothing and didn’t acknowledge her.

  “Just what I thought.” Eldon turned to Rachel. “I believed you when you said you changed your ways during your interview with me, that you would stay out of courts and jails.”

  “I meant it.”

  “You think you can break into my company and get away with it?” Back to Lucas, he said, “You must have powerful friends. I know it isn’t Rachel who has them.”

  The blatant insult went through Rachel. He might consider her a hard worker, but she was a hardworking minion, nothing compared to the movers and shakers in his world.

  “There wasn’t enough evidence to hold us,” Lucas said.

  “Yes, I was told you were let into the building and weren’t trying to take anything. Waiting for Jared, is what they said you were doing. An impressive ruse.” Eldon pushed back from his desk and stood. “What were you looking for in his office?”

  “We discovered that a woman who obtained a policy through him was murdered not long after my sister,” Lucas said.

  Eldon stood and walked around his desk. “Who?”

  Leaving this part of the meeting to Lucas and his expertise, Rachel wandered over to a bookshelf. There was always something to be gleaned from the contents of a person’s bookshelf. Eldon had old-school taste in both literature and decor. Churchill trim and desk and lots of war stories.

  “Her name was Angie Johnson,” Lucas said. “She wrote Jared a letter saying he sold her a fake policy, and she met with him prior to her death regarding the matter.”

  “Letter? What letter?”

  Rachel saw the two of them standing face-to-face in front of the desk; Lucas calm, cool and seasoned for this type of interrogation.

  “Police must have recovered it when they investigated Jared.”

  With a frown furrowing between his eyebrows, Eldon thought a moment. “Oh, yes. I remember now. It was an accusatory letter with no backing. I was shocked when police came to question Jared. They didn’t charge him with anything, so what is the issue?”

  “Her claims must be true if she was murdered after accusing him,” Rachel said.

  Eldon turned to her. “Jared wouldn’t waste his time on fraudulent policies. He’s got a strong client base. What were you doing in his office? I thought police cleared him years ago.”

  “He’s never been cleared. There’s no evidence,” Lucas said.

  “Has he ever spoken to you about Angie?” Rachel asked from the bookshelf.

  “He told me about her claims. We have weekly status meetings, and clients are discussed.”

  “And you didn’t think anything of it?” This question came from Lucas.

  “Oh, I thought plenty of it. I spoke to Jared myself. He assured me that she didn’t have a policy with us because she hadn’t paid for it yet, and he thought she may have been desperate to have her medical bills covered.”

  “And you believed him?” Rachel asked. Jared hid the payments so that it appeared the customer had never paid.

  “I did. I’ve known Jared a long time. We’re business partners. I didn’t ask him to join my company out of a lack of trust.” Eldon walked over to a wet bar and poured a splash of scotch.

  When he held up an empty glass to Lucas, Lucas held up his hand with a shake of his head.

  Eldon took a sip.

  “Did Sheriff Bailey ask you about Angie Johnson’s death?”

  “No. I was in Italy during that time. I flew out the day before.” He drank more scotch.

  Why did some executives think drinking in the middle of the afternoon was sophisticated? Or had talk of Jared’s fraud made him uncomfortable? HealthFirst had been his company. He’d brought Jared in as a trusted friend. That kind of publicity would do some damage to his reputation.

  “When did Jared become a partner?” Lucas asked.

  He must have wondered the same as she had.

  “When he invested half into HealthFirst five years ago,” Eldon answered, draining the rest of his drink.

  One year before Luella and Angie had been killed. Was it a coincidence?

  “Are you sure you’ve never noticed anything suspicious about his dealings?” Lucas asked. “People he meets? Or maybe he goes out to meet people.”

  “We do that all the time. It’s not unusual. No,
I’ve noticed nothing unusual about Jared. He knows what I expect, and he’s never disappointed me. I can’t imagine why he’d risk losing all of this.” Eldon opened his palm to indicate his nice office.

  “He invested in your company five years ago,” Lucas said. “Did he have a difficult time coming up with the cash?”

  “No. At least, I don’t think so. He never said anything.” Putting down his empty glass, Eldon looked from Rachel to Lucas, perplexed and becoming concerned. “Do you really think he could have killed Luella and Angie? Over fake insurance policies? I see the books. I’d know if there was money coming in unaccounted for.”

  Maybe he would, or maybe Jared had gotten good at hiding it.

  “What about Marcy Sanders?” Lucas asked. “Do you know about his relationship with her?”

  “Jared?” He appeared genuinely surprised.

  “Yes,” Lucas said, shrewdness narrowing his eyes slightly. “I saw him with her.”

  “With her how?”

  “Leaving this building. Real close and cozy.”

  The furrow returned to Eldon’s brow. He bent his head briefly and then raised it as his brow smoothed and he recovered from whatever emotion that stirred.

  “Jared is that way. He likes women.”

  Was Marcy one of Eldon’s women? The two men were so much alike, Eldon shouldn’t be surprised they’d end up sharing one or two women.

  “My apologies if that offends you,” Eldon said to Rachel.

  Taken aback that he’d think of her reaction to hearing that Jared liked women, Rachel said, “I’m not offended. I’m grateful I discovered his lies.”

  “Is there anything else you can tell us?” Lucas asked.

  “No. If I learn anything, I’ll be sure to notify the police.”

  Not them. Lucas’s mouth inched up in a wry grin. He leaned over the desk and gave Eldon his card. “If you’re inclined, you may call me at the mobile number listed there...anytime.”

  Rachel preceded Lucas out the door with one last look back at Eldon. He still held the card and watched them go. Would he protect his partner and friend or do the right thing and do as he said? She felt a kinship to him, except instead of protecting someone else, she’d protected herself.