Deadly Valentine

by Jenna Harte

  "Why would Senator Worthington need to kill his secretary?" Jack's stone cold voice asked.

  "So no one would know."

  "Know what?"

  Cora reached out to Jack, but he pulled away. "Know what Cora?"

  "Arthur Worthington is your father."

  Jack jerked back, stumbled as he tried to move away. "No. That's a lie!"

  Tess' heart broke for the man whose world had just been shown to be nothing that he believed it to be. Everyone that he'd loved and trusted his entire life had lied to him. Tess couldn't imagine the anger and hurt he felt.

  "I'm not a part of him. Of them!"

  Once again Cora moved towards Jack, but he put even more distance between them. At his rejection, Cora turned on Tess. "This is all your fault! Why couldn't you have just left it alone?"

  Tess ignored Cora. "Jack. This doesn't change who you are or the man you've become. All the success and goodness you bring to the world through your work, that's on you and the Valentines and Cora."

  Jack's head whipped to Tess. "This has nothing to do with you."

  The words slapped her, stung in a way Tess hadn't expected. "I was just-"

  "Please leave."

  "Okay," she said not wanting to add to his pain. She started gathering her papers.

  "Leave them."

  "But-"

  "I said leave them!"

  She could feel the boom in his voice vibrate through her heart. "Okay." She picked up her briefcase and purse and quietly left his apartment.

  When the elevator doors closed, Tess let the heartache out and wept. She wept partly for the man whose life was just destroyed. Of all the betrayals she'd faced in her life, she couldn't imagine anything so devastating as learning your parents or the people you thought were your parents had lied.

  She wanted to go to him, to hold him and give him the reassurance that Worthington DNA didn't mean he was like them. But he didn't need her. She could still see the steel in his eyes and feel the force of his voice as he told her to leave. The pain of it pierced her heart. How could that happen, she wondered. In a matter of days, he'd infiltrated her heart. And just as she feared, the aftermath was pain.

  She pulled herself together, focusing on the new details she'd just learned. She worried what Daniel and other police would think about this new development when they found out. It could be considered a motive to kill. But Jack would have had to have known the secret in order to kill Asa. There was no doubt in her mind that he'd been completely in the dark about that. But others in the family may have wanted the secret to remain hidden as well. The Senator for one. Tess wondered if Cora was right about his being Jack's biological father.

  What concerned Tess the most was that this revelation could have nothing to do with case. What if she'd hurt Jack and Cora unnecessarily? She knew Jack needed to know the truth, but she wished she hadn't been the one to bring it about.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The next morning, Tess arrived at her office before Regina. She hadn't slept well and at 5:30 gave up trying. She did some work at home and then made the short trip to the historic building from which she ran her fledgling law practice. She put on a pot of coffee in the small kitchenette used by all business owners in the building and then headed to her own office. She put her purse in the bottom drawer and set her brief case on top of the desk.

  Pulling out her cell phone she checked for messages. Still no word from Jack. She thought, for the umpteenth time, that maybe she should call him, but every time she did, his words came back to her. "This has nothing to do with you."

  She knew about hurt and betrayal, but she suspected it was worse for Jack. Everyone he'd known and loved had lied to him. His parents. Cora. But he was wrong to think that this new revelation would change who he was. He may have Worthington blood, but that didn't make him like them, anymore than she was like her parents.

  The thing that had been puzzling Tess all night was how Asa had put it all together? How did he know that Delia's baby didn't die in the fire and that Jack was that baby? She hadn't been able to put it together until she'd seen the pictures of Delia in Jack and Cora's home. Had Asa been to Jack's house? Did he know Cora? And even if Asa did figure it out, would someone kill to keep it a secret after all these years?

  Since Jack had kept her files, Tess pulled out a pad of paper to jot down notes and questions. If someone would kill to keep the secret of Jack's paternity, the Senator would be the most likely suspect. Cora accused him of killing Delia even though everything Tess had found so far suggested the fire was an accident. But the Senator was powerful even back then so maybe he could have pressured fire officials to not investigate deeper. But would he really kill Delia simply because she bore his child? Infidelity and politics went hand in hand. Then again politicians' infidelities weren't publicized back in the 1980's. The one that was, ended Gary Hart's bid for the Presidency. Would the Senator have killed her to keep the secret of their affair and the baby? Had she threatened to expose him? Could the Senator really kill his son; or more accurately two sons, Asa and Delia's baby?

  Tess didn't know the Senator that well, but he didn't strike her as the type that would resort to murder. He seemed more like the type to use money to fix a problem. And while the Senator and Asa had a volatile relationship, she couldn't see the Senator killing his son. But she'd worked in criminal law before and knew that people could be pushed too far.

  There were many possibilities and none of it or all of it could have been why Asa was murdered. But with Jack reeling from the news, she didn't know if she should even continue to search for answers.

  When her cell phone rang, she checked the caller ID and felt her heart drop. Not Jack.

  "Hi Daniel."

  "Tess. Are you back in town?"

  There was strain in his voice and she wondered if he was thinking she'd stayed the night with Jack. "I'm in my office."

  "We're still on for the funeral then?"

  Oh God, she'd forgotten about that. "Should I meet you?"

  "I'll pick you up there. About one o'clock?"

  "I'll be ready."

  She hung up the phone. She realized that the funeral would give her an opportunity to observe and mingle with the others that were at the home when Asa was killed. It also meant she would be walking a thin line between keeping and breaking her vow to Daniel to not mix her work with her personal relationship with his family.

  "Knock knock." Regina poked her head in the door. "You're here early." She walked into Tess' office. "I saw you made coffee. I brought you some. Plus your mocha Splenda and fat free creamer." Regina set the coffee on Tess' desk.

  "Thank you."

  "I half expected to see you in a lip lock with Mr. Valentine."

  "He's a client."

  She failed in her attempt to keep her face serious. "Right. Did the meeting with the board go well?"

  Tess nodded. There was no reason to elaborate on the events of the evening. Instead she took a sip of coffee.

  "Well, I'll get to work."

  "I'm going to be out this afternoon."

  "The funeral?" Regina asked. "It's all over the news. Funny how a guy who wasn't very well liked is getting such fanfare."

  "He wasn't well liked, but he was respected and he did a lot for the community."

  Regina shrugged.

  "Hey can I join the pow wow?" Kate Wells from the local news station poked her head in the door. While Tess and Kate's friendship went all the way back to college, Tess knew that Kate's visit probably wasn't a social call.

  "Come on in."

  "Do you want some coffee?" Regina asked moving towards the door.

  "No, got one," Kate said holding up a large Starbucks cup.

  Regina left the office, shutting the door behind her.

  "I thought we could do a little share and tell," Kate said sitting in the chair across from Tess' desk.

  "I don't have anything to share or tell," Tess said.

  Kate rolled her eyes. "Sure y
ou do, you just can't. Attorney client privilege and all that. But I get the story later, right? And an interview with your Valentine?"

  "I think I can arrange that." Tess of course wasn't sure she could, but she knew Kate had contacts in the police department and who knew where else. Kate was a copious researcher and tenacious when it came to getting a story. Perhaps she had news that Tess could use.

  "Good. Then I've got something to share with you and you can give me your thoughts on it."

  "Alright. What have you got?" Tess asked.

  "I know Asa's secret."

  ~~~~

  Tess was a good litigator because she knew how to keep her emotions in check and her facial expressions from revealing her true feelings. It made her good poker player too. She hoped that her raised brow showed interest and belied the panic that was tightening in her belly. If Kate had learned about Jack's true paternity, there would be very little Tess could do to keep the news from being spread. WJT-TV, the local station Kate worked for only reached through central Virginia, but the story of the well-respected Senator from Virginia being the biological father of one of the richest men in the United States would make national headlines. Jack wasn't ready for that.

  "Just one?" Tess asked.

  Kate laughed. "Just one today. But you're right; the Worthingtons probably have a closet the size of Texas filled with skeletons and scandal."

  Tess smiled even though she wanted to wince. Some scandals were the size of Texas.

  "I don't think this is as big as when Asa ousted the Senator to take control of the company, but I think it has some bearing on the investigation."

  "Really?"

  "The ME is releasing his report on Asa's death today."

  Tess didn't question how Kate got a copy of the report before its official release. She learned long ago that blond hair, long legs and perky breasts got you pretty much whatever you wanted. Kate had a pretty good life.

  "It's going to reveal that he was killed by having his head bashed in. And the weapon -- you'll love this -- was the humanitarian award he got from the Jefferson Tavern Southern Women's League."

  Someone sure understood the word irony, Tess thought.

  "But, had the murderer shown a little patience, Asa would have been dead in a few months anyway."

  "What?" Tess sat up, leaned toward Kate.

  "Cancer. He had three months tops."

  "You're kidding me."

  Kate shook her head. "I take it you didn't know."

  "How would I know that?"

  "I figured the family knew and since you're practically family-"

  "I'm not practically family."

  "Does Daniel know that?"

  "About Asa?"

  "No about your strange aversion to nice men who'd do anything for you."

  Tess didn't want to go another round with Kate regarding Daniel. Why Kate didn't make it easy on both of them by telling Daniel how she felt about him, Tess didn't know. Instead she sat back in her chair, her mind in a whirl over the revelation of Asa's impending death.

  "So. What do you make of it? Do you think it was his big announcement?" Kate asked.

  "I don't know. Maybe. Probably." But Tess didn't think that was the end of the announcement. A dying man usually spends his last days putting his affairs in order. Tess wondered what sort of plan Asa had in mind.

  "Do you suppose he was going to sell the company?"

  "Sell it?"

  "It just doesn’t make sense that Mr. Valentine was at the house that night for a family gathering unless Asa was making plans to sell the company. Everyone knows that Asa didn't think Philip could run a car much less a company. Helen isn't going to run it. There's really no one else in the family."

  But there was another person in the family, Tess thought. Jack was not only family, if what Cora said was true, but he was a successful businessman. She remembered how Asa behaved around Jack that night. There were some cat-that-ate-the-canary smirks, but mostly Asa was nice and accommodating, almost as if he was seducing Jack. Could Asa really have been planning a stunt that introduced Jack as his illegitimate half-brother and new leader of Worthington Media Corporation? It was possible. It’s the way Asa liked to work.

  But if so, Tom would have certainly known about Asa's plans. You don't just turn a company over to someone without a lawyer drawing up the paperwork of which there would be mounds. But Tom insisted he didn't know what Asa had planned anymore than anyone else that night. Was he lying? And if he was, why?

  "I can see the wheels turning, Tess. What have you got for me?"

  Kate's question jerked Tess from her inner dialogue. "I don't know what to make of it."

  "Oh come on."

  Tess shrugged. "You could be right. He may have planned to tell people he was dying. But it doesn't shed any light on who killed him or why."

  "Unless he was planning on selling the company. Maybe the family didn't want that."

  "I don't know. For the right price, I think they'd be willing to do just about anything."

  "And Valentine doesn’t know anything?"

  Tess shook her head. "No one who was there knew what was going on."

  "Doesn't that strike you as strange?"

  "Normally yes, but we're talking about Asa Worthington. I don't know what was going on, but I can tell you that he was enjoying having everyone wait with baited breath for whatever it was. I'm sure his spirit is annoyed that he didn't get to drop whatever bombshell he was planning that night."

  "Can I quote you?"

  "No."

  "Didn't you notice anything about him? I mean a dying guy, there has to be signs."

  "He seemed the same. Well, except for after his altercation with Lauren."

  "I heard he physically threw her out."

  "He nearly did. He wanted to. But after she left, I remember thinking that he looked a little pale. He was sweating and looked like he needed a breather. In fact, when I found him, I wondered if maybe he'd had a heart attack or something because he'd looked almost frail earlier."

  "Can I quote that?"

  "You can say that I thought he looked under the weather."

  "Something's better than nothing I guess." Kate looked at her watch. "I have a meeting, otherwise I'd stay and brow beat you into to giving more details."

  "Lucky for me."

  "Are you going to the funeral?" Kate said as she stood.

  "Yes."

  "With Daniel?"

  Tess knew her answer would be like a stab to Kate's heart. "Yes."

  Kate sighed. "I'll be in touch."

  "Why don't you call him?" Tess asked.

  "Who? Daniel? I have, but he's not very talkative about Asa's murder either."

  "I don't mean for an interview. I mean for dinner."

  "Oh well… I don't know… I mean…"

  Tess laughed. "You know you can have any man you want."

  "Usually. But in this case, he's in love with someone else," Kate said with a shrug of defeat.

  "He should be over it."

  "Should he?"

  "I don't love him, Kate. He's a friend and I've told him and you that a million times."

  "Love is strange isn't it?"

  "Yes it is." Tess responded as she thought about how quickly her heart had opened to Jack.

  When Kate left, Tess pulled out her writing pad and added the new piece to the puzzle. She would have rather had Kate give her information that would have cleared Jack from any involvement in Asa's murder. The news of Asa's impending demise, while intriguing, didn't really do much to shed light on what was going on. The realization that Jack was the Senator's son was still the most compelling piece of information, if it was true. If it was discovered that Jack was related to the Worthington's, the police would become more suspicious of him. Would Jack have killed Asa for a piece of the Worthington pie? Tess knew that it was unlikely since Jack was worth about twenty times more than Worthington's. But the police might think it gave Jack a motive. Of course, that would only wo
rk if Asa made provisions for Jack in his will. It’s the only way Jack would receive any benefit.

  But Tess remembered Helen saying that Asa's share of the company was being divided between her and Tom. There was no indication of Jack being mentioned. So unless Asa had been making plans to change his will, but hadn't yet done it, Jack had no motive. He'd have no motive until the change was made. And if Asa had been planning to change the will, Tom would have known, which brought her back to the question about whether or not Tom knew more than he'd indicated.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Tess had been to only one other funeral in her life. As a teenager, just before she'd convinced her parents to let her attend boarding school in Virginia, she attended her paternal grandmother's funeral. She remembered the day was unusually cool and drippy even for San Francisco. Family and acquaintances filled the church and later they pooled around the gravesite. It was a somber occasion, but not a tear was shed. It was much like the scene she was witnessing now.

  The February day was dark and ominous just like Asa's temperament. Members of the Worthington family and others who knew Asa gathered in the church as the minister spoke of life with the Lord. A murmur ran through the church when the minister talked about Asa being in heaven. Apparently people felt Asa's good deeds to the community didn't offset the ruthlessness he showed in his business and personal life.

  Tess spent time watching various members of the family that had been at the house when Asa was murdered wondering if there would be something in their expression or movement that would reveal a killer. The faces were somber, but not particularly grief stricken. No one looked guilty or remorseful or even particularly happy that he was gone. Everyone was playing their parts.

  Later she drove with Daniel to the Worthington home. She remembered how there had been a similar gathering at her grandmother's home and wondered why the grieving were required to put on a party after losing a family member.

  During the ride from her office to the church, Daniel had been quiet. As a friend she thought she should ask if anything was wrong. At least anything more than the obvious sense of loss he may have felt at losing his uncle. But a part of her feared his brooding silence had to do with Jack and she wasn't in the mood to have that talk.