by Ivy Dawson
“I can imagine,” Jax agreed, grimacing sympathetically. “I’m sorry you’re going through that. But I’ve got some good news for you.”
“Oh, good,” Shae said happily, “I could use some good news right about now. What’s up?”
“I want to ask you on a date,” Jax said proudly.
“You seem very sure that this would be good news for me,” Shae said mischievously.
“Well,” Jax said, chuckling nervously. “I had an idea. How do you feel about star gazing?”
“You’re pulling out all the stops,” Shae said, looking impressed. “I guess that’s good news for me. I think it sounds fun, when do you want to take me on this super romantic date?”
“I don’t know if it’s super romantic,” Jax admitted sheepishly. “I just thought you’d be tired of everything else onboard.”
“You’ve put a lot of thought into this,” Shae realized, her heart lurched painfully, and she frowned in confusion at her reaction. What was wrong with her? Jax noticed her frown, and he looked down nervously.
“Is that weird?”
“No,” she assured him hurriedly, “I think it’s very sweet. I’ll just have to see if I’m free.” She winced at the way the words came out. She wasn’t doing very well. That’s when she noticed Mark.
He could obviously hear everything from where he was leaning against the wall. He smiled in amusement and winked at her. She blushed furiously and Jax looked over his shoulder to see what was happening. His brow furrowed further, and he looked back at Shae, searching her expression for something.
“Am I missing something?” he asked, the tips of his ears turning red in embarrassment.
“No, no,” Shae shook her head emphatically. “I’m sorry, I’m being weird, I know. I’d love to go stargazing. What about tonight?”
“Aren’t you going to be busy with the case?” he asked, still keeping an eye on Mark. Their privacy was gone, and the moment ruined. She wanted to smack Mark and had to take a few breaths to calm herself down. She could salvage this.
“It doesn’t matter,” she told him. “I can take a break. If I don’t, then who knows what I’ll do to Mark.” This caused both men’s eyebrows to skyrocket, and her heart stopped when she realized how that could have sounded. Mark doubled over laughing, and Jax looked very confused.
“You know what I mean,” she said hurriedly, turning bright red. The moment was over, and it couldn’t be salvaged. She felt like smacking her forehead in annoyance.
“I’ll meet you at your cabin at nine,” Jax decided, giving Mark a dirty look. He was gone before she could say anything, and she watched him leave with a mortified expression.
“Shut up,” she growled at Mark, stalking past him.
“That was so bad,” Mark chortled, walking strangely as he tried to stop laughing. If it weren’t at her expense, she would’ve laughed too. He sounded like a winded seal, and even clapped his hands together. “What will you tell the children?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she scoffed. “There aren’t going to be any kids.”
“Aren’t you taking it seriously?” Mark asked in surprise, his laughter drying up. “Wow, you’re more heartless than I imagined. Is he not your type? Or do you like playing the field?”
“What are you going on about?” Shae asked exasperatedly.
“The mechanic,” Mark said seriously. “Do you not want to be with him? Or is this not about a relationship? I mean, why are you dating him if you’re not thinking about a future? Is it because there’s something wrong with him?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Shae admitted, her eyes wide. “It’s only our first date. We don’t have to have everything figured out right away.”
“Okay, but what are you looking for? You didn’t sound too interested in the invitation.”
“Everything was fine until you showed up. If you didn’t stick your nose in our business, then everything would’ve been fine.”
“That was a train wreck before I showed up,” Mark pointed out. “Why did you say yes if you don’t want to go out with him? Do you know how to say no? It’s very simple.”
“It’s not… why are you…?” she trailed off, struggling to find the right words. “No. No, we’re done talking about this. I’m not the one being investigated here. Let’s just get this job done and then we go our separate ways.”
“Don’t pretend that I care more than I do,” Mark snapped, frowning at her. “I was just wondering why you’re stringing the mechanic along.”
“We’re not talking about this anymore,” she said determinedly. Mark glared at her, but she ignored him. They walked the rest of the way in silence. When Caleb walked into the make-shift interrogation room, the tension between them was palpable.
“What’s going on?” he asked in concern. “What happened? Did someone else die?”
“No,” Mark said quickly, “we just found out that you lied to us. Why would you do something like that? I thought we had a good relationship. I trusted you.”
“No, you didn’t,” Caleb said in confusion. “You said I was lying and accused me of stealing another man’s wife. And killing the wrong person. What’s going on?” he asked, turning his attention to Shae. This didn’t sit well with Mark, and he coughed angrily.
“Did you know we do a background check on everyone we arrest?” she asked conversationally. Caleb paled significantly and sat back heavily. Mark smirked at his reaction, and accidentally smiled at Shae. She hid a smile and tried to look serious. They had him.
“Oh,” Caleb said softly, looking at down at his hands.
“Yes, oh,” Shae said severely. “Why didn’t you tell us? Wait, before you answer that, let me just warn you. In a murder investigation, everything comes out. Every secret, every lie, everything. There’s nothing you can hide now. We printed this,” she waved a file in front of his face, “and it tells us everything you didn’t.”
“I understand,” Caleb said gravely, shaking his head. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think it was relevant.”
“You stole and lied, and laundered money for gangs,” Mark said incredulously. “You’re a criminal.”
“That’s what I was,” Caleb corrected him patiently. “I did my time, and I haven’t done anything illegal since. My record is clean now.”
“Why should we believe you?” Shae asked. Her words were direct, but her tone was kind. “It can be easy to slip back into old habits. With that life insurance policy, Trinity was worth a lot of money.”
“Yes, but I don’t get any of that money,” he pointed out. “I’ll admit it, I have a dark past. We’ve all got things that we’re not proud of.”
“Yes, but most of us don’t go to jail,” Shae said. “You’ve got to understand how this looks to us.”
“I know,” Caleb sighed and shook his head. “I should’ve told you. It was a long time ago, okay? I was young, and stupid. We lived in a rough neighborhood. I did what I had to do to survive. I’m not proud of it. I found God in jail, and I promised to be better. Why do you think I take all this so seriously? I changed everything about myself to be better. I’m not going to compromise on anything, because I know that I’ll just fall back into that way of life. I got out, and I’m going to stay out.”
“You’re a good speaker, I can see why your people love you so much,” Mark said, walking to the table and taking his chair. He stared at Caleb as he sat down. “But I don’t think I believe you. Did anyone know about your past?”
“No,” Caleb said cautiously. “I didn’t hide anything. I just don’t think that anyone needs to know who I was.”
“What would happen if someone found out?”
“I don’t think they’d be very happy,” Caleb shrugged, “but there isn’t much they can do about it.”
“Or what if they fire you? You’ve got nowhere else to go. What if Trinity found out, and you had to keep her quiet? Maybe you decided to make it look like an accident, but then we started looking
into things.”
“I’m the one who asked you to investigate this,” Caleb reminded him, shaking his head in amusement, “and they wouldn’t fire me. There are hardly enough people willing to become a pastor these days. I’d get reprimanded or sent to a different parish. And everyone who needs to know, already knows.”
“You seem sure of yourself,” Mark said suspiciously.
“Is there anything you can tell us?” Shae asked, cutting Mark off. “Maybe it’s something you didn’t think of before, or just something that seems interesting. Every little detail can help us.”
“There is something,” Caleb admitted heavily, clasping his hands together. “I didn’t bring it up earlier because I didn’t think it mattered. I’m not so sure anymore.”
“What is it?” Mark asked, looking slightly sulky.
“Once, Trinity asked me for advice about her marriage. I suggested that we have a counseling session, and she agreed. We set everything up, but on the day, Tony didn’t show up. Trinity was very upset. She said that he promised he would come. Then she told me that she was going to leave him. She was drawing up the divorce papers and everything.”
“Why would she tell you that?” Shae asked curiously.
“I think she was feeling vulnerable,” Caleb admitted, scratching the back of his neck. “I just let her cry for a bit and told her what I thought about divorce. I made it clear that I didn’t approve, but that I wouldn’t try and stop her.”
“You’re lying,” Mark accused. “A beautiful woman, who you admit you had feelings for, tells you something like that and nothing happens? You two were alone! How do we know nothing happened?”
“What’s wrong with you?” Caleb asked, looking disgusted. “We were in a church. What do you think happened? I’ll admit that she was acting strangely, but I kept a safe distance.”
“What happened after that?” Shae asked, giving Mark a warning look.
“I told her to go home and think about it. I felt sorry for her, but there was nothing I could do for her. Anyway, that night, Tony showed up on my doorstep. He was drunk and yelling at me about Trinity. He blamed me for their troubles.”
“That’s understandable, you were stealing the man’s wife. He had to do something,” Mark said, nodding as though he approved of what Tony did.
“I told his wife not to divorce him,” Caleb reminded him. “That’s not what a thief would do.”
“What happened? When Tony showed up?” Shae asked, trying to get the interrogation back on track. She glared at Mark, and he smiled at her. He was an infuriating man, but he had a beautiful smile. His teeth were perfectly white, and he had dimples on both cheeks.
“I tried to calm him down, but he didn’t want to listen to me. He was convinced that Trinity was going to leave him for me. I think they had a fight.”
“He was going through a difficult time,” Shae said sympathetically. “What did you tell him?”
“I told him the truth, but it just made him angrier. He thought I was lying to him and that something else was going on. He said some crazy things.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Mark asked while Shae asked what Tony said.
“I didn’t think it was worth saying. I thought he was just venting.”
“What did he say?” Shae asked again.
“He said that he’d rather see her dead than let her be with me.”
Chapter 8
“I didn’t think you’d show up,” Jax admitted, smiling widely. She wanted to admit that she nearly didn’t.
“You really went all out,” she said, laughing nervously as she looked around. He’d chosen a quiet area on the top deck. It was quiet, and perfect for stargazing. He’d even put a few pillows out for them to sit on and had an elaborate picnic.
For some reason, the sight of it made her heart ache. She felt impossibly sad for a moment but shook her head to try and clear her thoughts. This was good. This was nice.
“I don’t go on a lot of dates, but when I do,” he handed her a glass of champagne, “I like to make them special.”
“Wow,” she said, smiling at him, “that was cheesy. How long have you been working on that line?”
“All day,” he admitted with a grin. “I even practiced it in the mirror a few times.”
“Oh, wow,” she took a gulp of champagne.
“Slow down there, tiger,” he said, looking at her in concern. “Is everything okay?”
“It’s fine,” she said, laughing slightly. “I’m just nervous.” She sat down and noticed that her hands were shaking. She looked back up at him and forced a smile.
“Shae,” he said, frowning in concern, “are you sure you want to be here? I know you’ve got a lot on your plate.”
“No, it’s okay.”
“Okay,” Jax said still frowning, he put his glass down and took hers out of her hand. “You’re not fine. Tell me, what’s going on?”
“I’m okay,” she smiled tensely, but moved away from him.
“If you don’t want to be here, you can tell me. I’m a big boy. I can handle myself.”
“It’s not that,” she said quickly. “It’s just…” she sighed and tried to stop feeling panicked. “There was this guy.”
“Oh, no,” Jax groaned comically, “don’t tell me you’re running from a bad break-up.”
“No,” she chuckled, feeling calmer already. “Nothing like that. I just don’t think I’m ready for all of this. And I’m mad at myself, because you’re nothing like him. I know it. It’s just…” she hesitated as she tried to find the right words.
“Your heart doesn’t believe your brain,” Jax finished.
“Please don’t be mad.”
“Why would I be angry?” Jax asked with an amused smile. “You’ve been honest. And now I know what I’m up against. How about we just slow down a bit? Take things back. This isn’t a date. It’s just two friends hanging out. How does that sound?”
“It sounds like something I can do,” she said, feeling relieved.
“Let’s take our time,” he said, pouring the champagne over the rail and taking a bottle of juice out of the basket. He got up and switched the light on so that they could see each other better. Shae smiled and started blowing the candles out.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” she asked, leaning against the ship and putting a pillow behind her back.
“I don’t mind,” he admitted. “Some things are worth waiting for.”
“Shae,” Mark ran up to the photo booth, his eyes wild. “Come on, it’s urgent.”
She looked at her coworker, then quickly took off after him. She’d never seen him look that upset before. And it was the first time he said her name without sneering at her. Something must be very wrong.
“What’s going on?” she asked, catching up to him. They’d docked for the day, and the guests were mostly out enjoying the local attractions. They had the ship to themselves.
“The parents are here,” Mark said in horror, his eyes wide. Shae stopped in her tracks and felt her heart race. She was no stranger to murder investigations, but he usually didn’t have to deal with the grieving families.
“Why did you call me?” she asked. “That’s not my area of expertise. What am I supposed to say to these people?” She started backing away, but he turned to her, grabbed her arm and pulled her with him as he walked.
“None of us know what to do in this situation,” he told her grimly, “but you’re not getting out of this. We’re facing them together.”
“I don’t want to,” she protested, slapping his hand. He gripped her arm tighter and she yelped. It wasn’t painful, but it wasn’t pleasant either.
“Since when have I cared?” he asked.
The scene waiting at reception was heart-wrenching. Serenity was hugging her mother, her shoulders shaking, while her mother cried silently. The father looked up as they came, a terrible expression on his face.
“Finally,” he said, “it’s about time you got here.”
“Dad,” Serenity said, sniffing and wiping her eyes, “these guys are trying to find out what happened to Trinity. Tell them what you told me.”
“I know who killed my daughter,” the mother said immediately, her voice thick with tears. Mark and Shae shared shocked looks but turned to the family.
“Please come with us,” Shae said simply, gesturing toward the office behind the reception desk. It was private, and it would be empty while everyone was on shore.
The family sat down on one couch, with Serenity wrapped between them. Shae was happy that the family could be together during this difficult time, but it was awkward for her.
“Who do you think killed your daughter?” Mark didn’t waste any time, and Shae instinctively knew that he was desperate to get out of that situation.
“Trinity was a complicated soul,” her father started. “My name is John, by the way. And this is my wife, Kelly.”
“We tried our best with Trinity,” Kelly said. She didn’t want to waste any time, not even on pleasantries. She was here to find justice for her daughter. “But she always walked to the beat of a different drum. Unlike dear Serenity.” She lovingly smoothed Serenity’s hair out of her face, while the young woman stiffened uncomfortably. Kelly looked at her daughter strangely before turning back to Shae and Mark.
“That whole business with Tony, and running away,” John continued, his voice becoming thick, “but we loved her. There’s nothing we wouldn’t do for our daughter. Even if she slipped up sometimes.”
Serenity rolled her eyes but kept quiet. Shae felt sympathy for her. The sisters were obviously close, and it couldn’t be easy to hear her parents talk about her twin sister like that.
“What does that have to do with the investigation?” Mark asked bluntly.
“She slipped up with her marriage,” Kelly said delicately. “She had an affair with a married man about a year ago. It was quite scandalous, and we had to try everything to keep it quiet. Thankfully, the other couple was also determined to keep it quiet.”
