Deadly Valentine

by Jenna Harte

  "It doesn't excuse my behavior. Tom was livid. You should have heard him railing on me and Daniel about little Tess."

  Tess had thought she'd outgrown the name Tom had often called her. At the same time, it was comforting to know he still used it.

  "He was right, as always. I hope you'll forgive me." Helen gave Tess' hand a squeeze.

  "Of course. And I'm sorry too."

  "I can't imagine who'd do such a thing to Tom and you," Helen said with a glance to Jack. To his credit he didn't respond. Not even a flinch.

  "That's what we were just talking about," Tess said.

  "You think Shelby murdered Asa?"

  "We were pondering why she lied."

  "I wasn't kidding about Asa cutting off her allowance. He spent a fortune to have her sent to a spa last summer to cure her."

  "So she does have an eating disorder?" Tess asked.

  "I would think it was obvious. I swear you can't see that girl when she stands sideways. It's so sad really. Why women kill themselves to keep a man is beyond me."

  "Did you say allowance?" Jack asked taking a step towards them. "Maybe it’s the feminist in me, but what twenty-first century woman needs an allowance? Why would Asa give her one?"

  "Control," Tess said. Jack was rich now, but he grew up in a different world. In her and Helen's world, money was power and it was used to manipulate and control people. Even family members. "But why would Asa care so much about Shelby's illness? Why would he want to control that?" Tess asked.

  "Grandchildren," Helen responded. "He was obsessed with having them."

  "That doesn't sound like Asa," Jack said. Tess had to agree. Asa did not have the temperament to be a grandfather.

  "To be more specific, he was worried about the future of the company. Everyone knows that Philip doesn't have what it takes to run the company. And Daniel wasn't going to do it no matter how much browbeating Asa did. So he thought that if he had grandchildren, he'd have 20 or 30 years to mold them and make them ready to take over. Just like he did instead of my father."

  "But he didn't have 20 or 30 years," Tess said.

  "He didn't know it when he concocted the plan," Helen said. "I'm certain that's what the gathering was about that night. He'd come up with a new plan now that he was dying. Who knows, perhaps he found a long lost cousin or something. The only thing that all Worthingtons agree on is that the company needs to remain a family run business."

  Tess thought about Delia and Senator Worthington, and their son. She looked to Jack and could see he was thinking the same thing.

  "Shelby knew that too. And she knew that Asa was the one to keep her rolling in the money. So she wouldn't have killed Asa. She liked money more than she disliked Asa."

  "I guess that puts us back where we started," Tess said.

  "I still don't understand about lying. If Asa was dead, then why would Shelby need to cover up the illness?" Jack asked.

  "Asa has all sorts of crazy provisions in his will," Helen explained. "No doubt there is one that Shelby needs to stay healthy. She probably gets a big bonus for the first grandson."

  Helen cast another glance at Jack and then patted Tess' hand. "The police will figure it out. They'll find the killer and we'll all be safe. In fact, I just left Detective Johnson with Tom. They were talking about some computer. Until the killer is found, you can count on Daniel and us to keep you safe."

  Tess gave Helen's hand a squeeze. "Thank you."

  "Do you need anything? I see you got the clothes Regina I picked up."

  "Thank you for that."

  "I couldn't get you any of those six-hundred dollar French garments you like so well, but I think they'll do,"

  "They'll be fine," Tess said.

  "The clothes are nothing special either, but you can't leave here in one of those hospital gowns with your tush hanging out."

  Tess laughed. "That would be a sight."

  "Well, I need to go check on Tom." She gave a disapproving look to Jack, then turned back to Tess. "Are you sure you'll be alright?"

  "Yes." Tess said this time being the one to pat Helen's hand. "I'll be fine."

  Helen took her time releasing Tess' hand and moving away, as if any minute Jack might pounce. "You call me or Daniel if you need anything."

  "I will," Tess assured her.

  "She thinks I'm a danger to you," Jack said after Helen disappeared out the door.

  "You picked up on that too, huh?"

  "The only thing you're in danger from me is having you model that backless tushy-showing hospital gown."

  Tess smiled. "Not now, I have a headache."

  Chapter Forty-Three

  During the late morning and early afternoon, Tess rested with Jack at her side. Occasionally, she'd doze and wake up worried it was all a dream. But then she'd feel him next to her, whispering to her, and all was right with the world again. The doctor stopped in mid-afternoon and satisfied with her living arrangements, agreed to discharge her.

  It took some time, but finally she was drugged, dressed and loaded into Jack's car.

  "I want to go by my house," she said as he pulled out of the parking space.

  "Tess, you need to rest. We can drive by tomorrow."

  "I want to see it now. I need to see it."

  He cast a quick glance her way. He didn't say anything, but he made the turn on Cavalier Avenue towards the center of town. As neared her home, he slowed the car, but didn't stop. Tess realized he was planning to just drive by.

  "Park here," she said.

  "Tess, it's starting to rain."

  "Just for a minute. I need to see it."

  He didn't argue as he pulled up to the curb across the street from her house. She looked out the window at the charred remains of her home. Her roof had fallen in the area that had been her bedroom. Black streaks reached out from window frames. The glass had broken or melted away.

  Tess pulled the lever to open the car door. Jack grabbed her arm. She thought she was going to argue this too, but instead he said, "Let me help you."

  She nodded and waited for him to exit and come around the car. Every movement getting out of the car sent sharp stabbing sensations to her side. She tried to ignore it. The thin line of Jack's lips told her she wasn't doing a very good job.

  She made her way across the street, shuffling, hunched over with Jack holding her arm as if she were a hundred years old. She felt a hundred years old.

  "It will take time to rebuild," she said as she made her way up the walk, the smell of her charred possessions, as few as they were, swirled in the cold air.

  "You have a new place now."

  "I want to go around back."

  "You sure want a lot of things all of sudden," he muttered.

  "You can change your mind if you think I'm too high maintenance." They slowly made their way around the yellow tape to the side of the house.

  "Any minute now I'm going to pick you up and take you home."

  She didn't doubt that he would.

  They rounded the corner and Tess gasped as she saw her treadmill sitting mangled and melted in her back yard. She thought she could handle it, but her emotions had other thoughts. She felt herself shake as the magnitude of what had happened to her house and nearly to her sat burnt before her.

  "Hey," Jack said, his arm tightening around her. It would have been comforting if it didn't hurt.

  "I need a minute." She tried to loosen his grip, but she wasn't so sure her legs would hold her.

  "Let's just go," he said with a gentle, but insistent tug.

  "No. I just need a minute."

  "What for? It will still be like this tomorrow, next week. You don't need to do this now."

  "Yes I do."

  He swore under his breath.

  "I think I'm okay now." She moved closer to the house, trying to make out if anything was salvageable on the inside. It didn't look like her home anymore. Walls were missing. The furniture was a pile of ash. Only the brick fire place indicated she was looking
in the living room. She thought about Delia, the loss of her home, her life. Could all this be connected?

  "Do you think the Senator could do this? He's 80 years old."

  "It's not that hard to strike a match," he said.

  "He just seems too…"

  "Refined?"

  She nodded.

  "Maybe he paid someone," Jack said.

  "That would make it even harder to find out who did it."

  "Not if it's linked to Delia's death. It would be reasonable to assume that he used the same person for his dirty work."

  "The problem is that the fire inspector said he didn't think that Delia's fire was arson. This could be totally unrelated."

  "He said there was no reason to re-open the case," Jack clarified. "But he also said there were some things about the fire that would have led him to look at it more thoroughly."

  "I guess." Tess could feel her strength weakening. Not just from the physical limits of her body, but emotionally as well. Would this ordeal ever end?

  "Even if Delia's fire was an accident, Asa's murder and the attempts on you and Tom could still be related to wanting to keep Delia and the baby a secret."

  "Which brings us back to the Senator," Tess said. "I can't imagine him asking anyone to kill for him."

  "Nothing that politicians do surprise me anymore."

  Tess could hear a variety of noises coming from the house. Some she supposed were dripping water from recent rain, but the creaking had to be unstable parts of the structure.

  "It's going to need some major TLC," Jack said looking at the house.

  "Couldn't we all. So you really think the Senator killed his own son and did all this?" Tess asked as she pulled her coat tighter around her. The air had gotten colder and the sprinkles of rain were turning to ice.

  "I think it's possible. But if he hired someone, then who came in the house to kill Asa? Especially since it seems like a crime of opportunity."

  "Right," she agreed.

  "Who can move around that house unnoticed? Even with all the doors that lead into and out of that office, someone would have to feel pretty comfortable in the house and know its layout."

  "I got lost in it. When I found Asa, I was trying to get to the foyer, not his office," Tess said. "And it wasn't my first time there."

  "Well we know it wasn't you then," he said giving her kiss on the head. "I tell you what. Let's take you home where you can clean up and get warm. Then we can look through the papers and see if anything pops out at us that we didn't notice before."

  Tess nodded, but didn't move. She couldn't stop thinking about what Jack had said about the killer being able to move through the house unnoticed and having knowledge of its layout. She focused on the night of the party when she was resting in the room next to where Asa was murdered.

  "I know who that is," she said more to herself than to Jack.

  "Who that is what?"

  Tess remembered hearing the argument between Asa and Jack, and then she must have dozed off because she was awoken again by movement.

  "I know who can move the house," she answered Jack. "Who could have murdered Asa."

  "Are you going to share or keep me in suspense?"

  "Walter."

  "You're kidding right? The butler did it?" Jack bit his lower lip to keep from laughing.

  "I know it sounds crazy," Tess admitted trying not to be annoyed at Jack's dismissal. In her mind all the pieces were falling in place. "He didn't like Asa and would do anything for the Senator."

  "Including murder?"

  "And he was around when Delia was killed."

  "That could be a coincidence."

  Tess clutched the lapels of Jack's coat. "I don't think he was checking on me just before I found Asa. He was moving past me, through the room as if he were sneaking from Asa's office to the foyer."

  Finally Jack's face showed interest.

  "All the times I was talking with Helen or the Senator about the murder at the house, Walter was there. He would have heard me asking Tom about Delia. And he picked up Sarah and Agnes after they visited me yesterday."

  "You met with Sarah and Agnes?"

  "Yes. It's that thing I can't talk to you about. I'd asked him about the Senator and he got really irritated. He has an overly developed attachment to him."

  "Are you sure about all this?"

  Tess wanted to shake him. "You think I'm making this up?"

  "No. But you know as well as I do that a faint recollection and coincidences aren't enough to convict a guy."

  "I know," Tess started to turn away, but Jack caught her.

  "On the other hand, you've got me convinced."

  Tess smiled. "I wonder if Detective Johnson will be convinced."

  "There's only one way to find out," Jack said pulling his phone from his coat pocket.

  "You can put that away." They turned to the new voice in her backyard and found themselves looking down the barrel of a gun.

  "Looks like you were right," Jack murmured.

  "Right now I wish I was wrong," she responded as Walter moved towards them.

  "It's unfortunate that I have to do this," he said. "The Senator is quite fond of his grandson and his grandson is quite fond of you."

  "You didn't seem to have a problem trying to kill me last night," Tess said. She felt Jack give her a sharp squeeze. She supposed he was trying to tell her to not antagonize the murderer.

  "On the contrary. I hoped I wouldn't have to. When you didn't put together my coming from the office into the library, I was glad that I wouldn't have to deal with you. You shouldn't have gotten involved."

  "So what now?" Jack asked.

  "So now we move into the house before a neighbor sees us."

  "The roof is going to collapse any minute," Tess said.

  Walter laughed. "That would be convenient for me."

  Jack maneuvered Tess in front of him as they moved toward the house, so that he was between her and the gun pointed at his back.

  "You don't have to do this," he said. "No one would believe us and there really is no proof. A good defense lawyer would say that Tess was disoriented and couldn't be sure when she saw you. Isn't that right, Tess?"

  "That's what I'd do if I were your lawyer. Without an eyewitness, there is no evidence against you."

  "Too late now," Walter said.

  Tess stepped into the charred remains of her home. It offered refuge from the freezing rain, but that was little comfort to what was coming once they were inside. A gun was hard to defend against even when held by an older man such as Walter.

  Tess glanced behind her and saw that Walter kept more than an arm's distance from Jack. She suspected he'd been thinking the same thing she was; if Jack were close and quick enough, he could overtake Walter. That's if Jack was faster than Walter's trigger finger. Apparently Walter didn't want to find out and neither did Jack who followed her into the house.

  Jack maneuvered her towards the fire place where the slate roof remained intact. She couldn't be sure if that was a good thing or not. The freezing rain pelted the roof. She wondered how much it could take before burying them all.

  She tried to think of something that could change Walter's mind. She still wasn't clear on why he killed Asa. Did he do it to hide the Senator's secret? Did the Senator ask him to kill Asa? His loyalty to the Senator was unquestionable; he didn't think the man could do any wrong. Perhaps that was Walter's Achilles heel.

  "You know if you kill Jack, Daniel and the police will know he didn't kill Asa. They'll start looking for another suspect."

  "And as you said, there is no evidence that I did it, so it won't be a problem."

  "I wasn't thinking of you. I was thinking of the Senator," Tess said.

  Walter's eyes grew dark. "He would never hurt anyone. He's a good man."

  "I'm sure he is. But he'll be at the top of the list." Tess wasn't sure that was true. But if Walter believed it, and his devotion to the Senator was bigger than his desire to murder her and J
ack, it was worth the bluff.

  "That's ridiculous."

  "Someone in that house killed Asa and the suspects are diminishing with each one you hurt or kill," Jack added. "When you account for those who have alibis, there aren't many people left."

  "They won't accuse him!" Walter spat. "I won't allow it."

  "Are you going to kill Daniel too?" Tess asked. "You can't get rid of everyone, Walter."

  "And if the Senator put you up to it, maybe the Commonwealth's Attorney will give you a deal," Jack said.

  "NO!" Tess thought Walter was going to shoot them both right there. "Don’t you ever say that. The Senator would never hurt anyone."

  "Why would you want to kill Asa?" Tess couldn't stop herself from asking.

  "Because he was going to tell about Delia."

  "About her and the Senator's affair?" Tess asked.

  "Yes, and about the boy," he waggled his gun towards Jack.

  "I don't think that would have hurt the Senator," Tess said. "Politicians today are able to get away with a bit of scandal."

  Walter rolled his eyes and then pointed his gun at Jack again. "His living would draw attention to Delia and the fire. People would start asking questions."

  "What fire?" Jack asked.

  "The fire that killed Delia, idiot."

  "So you set that fire too?" Tess said. "You killed Delia."

  "She was going to ruin him. He was going to take care of her, but she was going to leave and take the baby. It was a matter of time before the truth was exposed."

  "What truth?" Tess asked.

  "Today a politician can get away with infidelity and illegitimate children, but not then. Not in this state. He's a great Senator and I wasn't going to let her ruin it."

  "So you killed Asa because you were afraid his news about Delia's baby would reveal that you killed her?" Jack asked.

  Tess looked up at Jack. Didn't he get that he was the baby? Or was he still in denial. Or maybe he was being brilliant by trying to separate himself from the baby.

  "He was going to give you the company," Walter said with a snort. "Can you believe it? As the Senator's son you're technically family. And as family you can run the company."

  "I don't want the company," Jack said.

  "Doesn't matter anymore." He lifted his gun again.