Deadly Valentine

by Jenna Harte

  She already did. Her heart screamed at her to take back her words. To tell him she believed him and to hell with her friends and clients. But her head told her how close she was to restoring the peace and balance in her life. The tug of war raged inside her, neither side able to overpower the other. So she stood, watching him, waiting.

  With one last withering look, Jack stormed away. The slam of the door made her jump, expending the last of her strength. Her knees gave way. She sank to floor and wept.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Jack sat in his dark living room mindlessly staring out the sliding glass doors that overlooked the Potomac River towards the Lincoln Center. The moon was high and bright, casting a bluish glow over the room. It might have been romantic in another situation. Tonight it was depressing.

  He took a drink from the bottle of Glenfiddich, feeling the burn of the potent liquid as it went down. But it failed to extinguish the pain or the fury. The pain he was used to. Having lost his dad when he was twelve and later watching his mother wither and die from cancer, he'd learned about pain and how to live with it. But the fury, this was different. Even with Cora's lie, there was an anger and disappointment, but not this violent rage brewing, bubbling.

  A rational mind might think Cora's lie was equally bad, maybe even worse than Tess' cowardly rejection of him. But that's not how he felt. All he could see was Tess' cool demeanor as she told him he was worth less than fair-weathered friends and clients. He'd never done anything to hurt her, to betray her. Meanwhile Daniel and his family cast her out, ignored her, and even accused her of covering up a murder. They'd rejected her and her response was to break it off with him. What a fool he'd been to think he could win over her reluctance. To think that she would love him as he loved her.

  "You just gonna sit there in the dark?" Cora said as she puttered into the room and sat on the chair adjacent to him.

  He responded by taking another drink.

  "Did she dump you?"

  "I’m not in the mood, Cora."

  "I told you this would happen. I told you she'd break your heart."

  "YOU!" he pointed his scotch bottle at her. The amber liquid sloshed inside. "You broke my heart."

  Cora flinched, settled back in her seat. He looked away, not wanting to add guilt to his already volatile emotions. "That was different. I was protecting you."

  He was about to tell her that at least Tess hadn't lied to him, but caught himself. He didn't want to defend her.

  "Look what they did to Delia. My God, even Asa is dead. If Asa could be murdered in his own home full of people, imagine what could happen to you?"

  "If the murderer wanted me dead, then why hasn't he tried to kill me?" It was a thought that had been rambling around his head for some time. Asa was dead. There had been an attempt on Tess' life and then Tom and Helen were attacked and their home set on fire. But nothing had happened to him. Or Cora. If the motivation behind the murder was Delia, then shouldn't he and Cora be in danger? "This whole thing may have nothing to do with me and your lies."

  "Stupid woman. I hate her for bringing all this-"

  "STOP!"

  Cora's mouth snapped shut while her eyes widened. He wondered if she was afraid of him.

  "You did the lying. It's worse knowing you were never going to tell me."

  "I did it to protect you. Didn't you have a good life? I couldn't have picked better people to be your parents. Look at you! You're successful and rich. There are thousands of women who'd appreciate you."

  "Cora, I'm not interested in discussing this with you."

  They sat in silence. He could feel her studying him, trying to figure out how to reach him. But he didn't want to be reached.

  "You must really be in love with her," she finally said.

  "You think?" he mocked.

  "If that's the case, why are you here drowning yourself in liquor? Why aren't you convincing her to keep you?"

  He knew he could. Several times on the trip back to Washington he'd turned around, headed back to change Tess' mind. He knew if he pressed a little, she'd give in. But for how long? When would the next crisis send her back to Daniel? "You don't even like her."

  "No. But I love you more than I hate her. And I'm worried about what I see now. It's just like when Lillian died. The drinking, the darkness around you. I don't want to see you fall like that again, not when you've just got yourself together. I want you to be happy. It's all I've ever wanted. So get off your tookus and go to her."

  "No."

  "Why not?"

  "Because I’m not interested in having to convince her to be with me or battle for position whenever she gets nervous." God how that irked him. To be at the bottom of the list. Hell he'd been cast off the list. He now understood why Tess had been so reluctant to let him into her life in the first place. Heartbreak was a bitch. He wouldn't wish this pain on anyone. Once he recovered, he wasn't sure he'd want to risk his heart again either.

  "Well maybe she'll come around."

  "Doesn't matter." He said as he stood. He wobbled, but pushed Cora away when she tried to help him.

  "It does matter. You should sober up. Clean up. She could be on her way here now."

  He got his feet under him, and shook his head to rid it of thoughts of Tess. He'd wasted over three years pining for her. For what? No, he'd had enough. "If she shows up tell her I'm not here. I'm done with Tess Madison."

  ~~~~

  Tess thought she'd known what it was like to have a broken heart. When she'd found Brad cheating on her, she'd been completely poleaxed. She'd never expected to be the type of woman a man would cheat on. Or that she'd fall for a man who preferred other men, for that matter. Not that she was perfect or naïve. Despite her upbringing that included a father with a long-time mistress, she'd come to believe in true love and that she'd had it with Brad. She'd discovered otherwise and the pain and humiliation of it changed her.

  But that was nothing compared to the anguish that had her buried under a blanket on her couch. She would have never guessed that emotional pain could be accompanied with physical pain. It was as if her heart was in a vise, squeezing tighter and tighter until she couldn't breathe. The worst part was, she was the one that had tightened the screws.

  At first she'd reminded herself that she'd achieved her goal. She was now able to resume the quiet life she'd created for herself. After Jack left, she'd gotten herself off the floor and to the phone. She called her clients, eager to explain the situation and resume her practice. She'd only been able to reach two; one who told her she'd already been replaced, and another who unconvincingly said he'd think about re-hiring her. The rest she left messages for even though she was sure they'd all checked their caller ID and purposefully hadn't answered her call.

  Once the calls were made, there was nothing to distract her from the knife-like pain in her chest. Perhaps watching TV or reading a book would help, but it didn't. Apparently Friday night TV was dedicated to romantic shows for all the loveless people who didn't have a date. It didn't help that all the shows had a Valentine's Day theme. She didn't fare any better with her books, which were all mysteries, but included a romantic subplot. Short of dying of heart break, all she could manage was to hide under a blanket on her couch.

  She knew she'd gotten up once or twice to eat a bowl of cereal. It was one of those brands with a complete day's worth of vitamins packed into a single serving. She'd managed to choke down a half days worth of fortified goodness before her throat had closed up from the pain that she feared she'd live with for the remaining days of her life.

  The rest of time she was on the couch, under her blanket, letting time go by. How long she'd been there, she didn't know. When her pity party was interrupted by a phone call, she considered not answering it. That would take more energy than she had. But then she thought it could be a client ready to hire her back. Wasn't that what enduring this pain was all about?

  She rolled off the couch and found the phone on her dining room table next to he
r client list. She noted that it was dark outside, but she wasn't sure if it was early morning or evening. She checked her watch. Just after six, but was it am or pm.

  "Hello?"

  "Tess?"

  It sounded like Daniel. She didn't want to talk to him, but before she could hang up he said, "The Martin kid lawyered up. He's asking for you."

  Tess rubbed her eyes as she tried to think who Daniel was talking about.

  "Want me to call the public defender's office?" he asked.

  Martin? Martin? Then it came to her. Derek. And she remembered Jack's parting words. Keep Danny boy away from Derek.

  "No. Give me 45 minutes. Leave him alone until I get there."

  "Jesus Tess. What kind of place do you think we're running -?"

  Tess didn't want to get into it, so she hung up. She moved as quickly as she could considering the gaping hole in her chest that threatened to bring her to her knees with every breath. She showered and dressed still uncertain as to what day it was or whether it was early morning or evening. She turned the radio on in her car as she drove to the police station hoping they'd give the time. It was Sunday evening. She'd wallowed nearly two days.

  "Where'd you find him?" Tess asked as she walked through the station with Daniel.

  "On campus. He says he was out of town with a friend.

  "Is this your case?" She wasn't going to argue with him about a conflict of interest for investigating his father's attack, but she wanted to know so she could use it if she needed to.

  Daniel stiffened. "No. But I want to watch. It is my father after all."

  "I want to talk to him alone. You'll have to watch later."

  "He's in here," Daniel said putting his hand on the door knob to one of two interrogation rooms. "Are you alright Tess? You don't look well."

  Like you care, Tess thought. "Can you leave us?"

  He shrugged and opened the door.

  "Ms. Madison. Thank god you're here!" Derek jumped up as if he were going to run up and hug her. Catching himself, he extended his hand.

  Tess took his hand. "Did you tell them anything?"

  His expression grew worried. "Yes. I mean I answered some questions. But, I don't know." He looked like he was on the verge of crying. It struck her that he was so young. Too young to be caught up in this mess. "They started asking me questions like I killed someone or something."

  "They're investigating an attack."

  "What attack? I didn't hurt anybody."

  Tess sat next to him hoping her closeness and ability to make eye contact would help him calm down and focus.

  "Derek I'm going to ask you some questions based on what I know. I need you to answer truthfully. Can you do that?"

  He stared at her for a moment. "What if I say something that accidently gets me in trouble? I've seen it on TV where someone tells the truth and they still get in trouble."

  "I'm your lawyer. What you tell me is just between you and me."

  "Really?"

  She nodded. "Where were you Wednesday night at about 2 am?"

  "They asked me that. I told them I was in my dorm room."

  "Was anyone with you?"

  "No."

  "Don't you have a roommate?" Tess asked.

  "He was with his girlfriend. He sleeps at her place a lot."

  "How about pizza? Did you order any? Take a break with friends?"

  He shook his head. "I had a big test in my lit class. I needed to do well."

  Tess paused as she pulled a pad of paper out of her purse. She hadn't wanted to start with the notes right away because she was afraid it would make Derek more nervous than he already was.

  "The police deputy says your car was parked on Colonial Avenue that night."

  "No. My car was at the university."

  "Are you sure about that?" Tess asked watching his face for any sign that he might be lying.

  "Yes."

  "Did you let someone borrow it?"

  "No." His brows pulled together. "Colonial Avenue?"

  "That's right."

  "I was there Tuesday night. Not Wednesday." His eyes widened in panic. "Is that bad?"

  "Where on Colonial?"

  "At this lady's house. Ms. Draper. Mr. Valentine asked me to set her up."

  "Set her up?"

  "Yeah. She's going to be working for him from home and she needed her computer and Internet set up. He asked me to do it."

  "What night was that?" Tess asked testing his memory and his story. She knew Daniel would do it, so she might was well get him ready.

  "Tuesday. I drove down from Washington that night. The day I saw you in Mr. Valentine's office. Remember?"

  Tess nodded. She felt a mixture of relief and guilt at knowing what Jack had asked Derek to take care of. Why hadn't he explained that to her when she asked? "Are you sure it was Tuesday?"

  "Positive. You can ask her."

  You can be sure of it, Tess thought. "This is good Derek," she said wanting to reassure him. "If she can verify the date, that will help you." It still didn't clear him for Wednesday night, but Tess thought it was a plausible enough story to be true.

  "The police found your car in a vacant lot off Spouse Street."

  "I left it there when Joe and I drove to Myrtle Beach this weekend. We went in his car."

  "Why not leave it on campus?" Tess asked.

  "Joe didn't want to come all the way in town."

  "Is Joe a student?"

  "Not here at JT."

  "The police found parts of computers in your trunk."

  "Can they do that? Just go through my car like that?" He looked her incredulously.

  "Sometimes they can. Where are the parts from?"

  "I do computer work. To save money, sometimes I salvage parts."

  The police were making a big leap to think used computer parts were part of a broken computer from Tom's house, unless Derek had broken pieces in his car. "Are any of these parts broken off from laptops?"

  "Sometimes casings and stuff get broken. Mostly I just try to save the hardware."

  "You also had a gas can."

  "I have lots of stuff in my car. I don't understand why it's anyone's business." She noted his annoyance and hoped that he could hold it together long enough to talk to the police.

  "These are the questions the deputy is going to ask. Consider them practice. By knowing the answer, I can make sure you don't say anything that will get you more trouble."

  He shrugged. "Okay."

  "There was a fire and a broken computer at the scene of the attack I told you about."

  "On Colonial?"

  "Right."

  She could see now that he understood how the police would be suspicious of him. "It's all just a coincidence," he said, panic rising in his voice.

  Tess reached out to pat his hand. "I think it's going to be okay. Can you tell me about the gas can?"

  "My gas gauge is broken and I forget to check the mileage when I gas up. So I run out of gas a lot."

  Tess couldn't help but feel sorry for the boy. In the end he was another one of Daniel and Jack's casualties.

  "Have you called Ja- Mr. Valentine?"

  "No," he said shaking his head. "I don't want to bother him."

  "When we're done here, you should call him."

  "Do I need bail?"

  "No," Tess said with a laugh. "I just think he should know. He'll be able to confirm that he sent you to set up the computer on Colonial."

  "Oh yeah."

  "I'm going to tell the detectives that they can come question you now. You tell them what you told me. If I stop you, don't say anything, okay?"

  He nodded.

  As she predicted, Detective Johnson asked the same questions she had with only a view minor variations. When he tried to intimidate Derek, Tess intervened. With or without her there, Tess knew that Derek's story would have been checked out and he'd most likely be cleared. She knew that Detective Johnson and hopefully Daniel knew it too. She began to wonder if Daniel's purpos
e in telling her about Derek the other day was simply to get her to second guess Jack.

  "This was pretty weak," she said to Daniel once she sent Derek home.

  "A lot of investigative work is following leads that turn out to be nothing. If he'd answered our questions, we would have checked out his story and he'd be in his dorm already. It was his idea to call you."

  "So you agree that Derek is just a poor student who unfortunately works for Jack?" Tess said.

  "It was solid work, Tess," he defended himself. "I'm tired of you thinking otherwise."

  "I'm pretty tired of it all myself." Not wanting to have the same argument yet again, she turned to leave.

  "Before you go," he said catching up to her. "Do you know anything about a Cora Peterson?"

  Tess nearly asked him if he was going through Jack's rolodex to find an accomplice. But then she wondered if maybe Daniel was making the connection between Cora and Delia.

  "I've met her," Tess said.

  "And?"

  "And what?" She hoped he didn't ask if he thought she was capable of murder because her run in with Cora confirmed she probably was.

  "How well do you know her?"

  "Not well. To be honest, I don't think she likes me."

  "Why not?"

  "I don't really want to go into it." While she did want him looking into what Asa was doing that night, she felt certain the whole Cora/Delia/Jack/Senator thing would be used against Jack somehow. Fortunately, even if she wanted to tell, she couldn't.

  "That dead secretary of the Senator's was her daughter."

  Tess kept her face expressionless.

  "It's curious that Jack would be friends with a woman whose daughter worked for the Senator?"

  "Why? People know and meet all sorts of people," Tess said.

  "True. But in this case…"

  She could tell Daniel was trying to get her fill in some gaps, but she kept quiet.

  "What's really weird is Asa's connection to it all," he continued when she didn't take the bait.

  "Really?"

  He gave her an irritated look. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about, Tess. You're the one that said we needed to look at the information Asa had."