Burden of Proof

by DiAnn Mills

  Simon smiled. “Technically nothing. But Tyler County Hospital has released medical records showing Billie’s and Zack’s treatment for so-called accidents. Willis’s attorney could have the hospital records tossed out in court. It will take her testimony to nail a conviction. I’m assuming she’ll want a divorce and custody of their son.”

  Jason checked his phone to be sure Billie hadn’t texted or left a message. “She hasn’t gotten back with me.”

  “At this point,” Simon said, “confirmation she’s alive would suit me.”

  Simon’s phone vibrated with a text. “I can give you this update. The media is getting word now. This morning a body was exhumed on Willis Lennox’s property. He’s been identified as Eric Deckett, the missing FBI agent. Shot in the head with a bullet matching one of Willis’s handguns that was confiscated at his home. Billie is a witness to a murder cover-up. Assuming Billie and Zack are safe, they won’t have to worry about Willis ever bothering them again.”

  57

  LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON, April and Jason left the small Asheville airport in a rental car with the destination of the Scottard residence. Gwen should be home from teaching at a local elementary school. April took a moment to breathe in and hope some semblance of rest magically entered her system and healed her battered body.

  Jason parked at the curb in front of a light-gray, two-story traditional home trimmed in black shutters. He and April exited the car and made their way to the front door. He pushed the doorbell, and a dog barked inside.

  The door swung open, and a striking red-haired woman shook her head. “Jason Snyder, why am I not surprised? I should have realized you’d show up when I didn’t return your call.”

  “Good to see you, Gwen.”

  The two definitely had history.

  Jason continued. “This is FBI Special Agent April Ramos.”

  Gwen frowned. “Have you two been in a fight?”

  “Several,” Jason said. “We could use your help in finding Billie.”

  Gwen leaned against the doorjamb. “Come in. I should have replied to your message. Just couldn’t decide what to say.” She stepped aside for them to enter and grabbed Jason for a hug. “Jase, I’m really worried about my sister.”

  “Me too.”

  “Do you know why she ran?”

  “Yes, and I understand her need to stay in hiding. I had to tell two FBI agents, April and her partner. I apologize if I betrayed her confidence, but we need to find her.”

  “I agree,” Gwen said. “Willis is a jerk. Always has been. Hate my sister had to find out the hard way.”

  Jason and April followed her into a traditional living area, decorated with kids’ books and toys. Gwen cleared two Barbie dolls and a dump truck from a leather sofa.

  “Excuse the clutter. The kids are in the backyard and might barge in at any minute. So please don’t say anything to alarm them. Can I get you something to drink?”

  “No thanks,” Jason said. “Unless April wants something.”

  “I’m fine.” Once seated with the pleasantries out of the way, including information about Gwen and her husband’s two children, ages five and six, April deferred to Jason. Their link to Billie was encouraging.

  “Here’s the deal. The FBI has evidence connecting Willis to a murder of one of their own. In fact, the body was buried on his property. The search began due to a comment Billie made about seeing Willis possibly taking a body into the woods. The FBI needs her testimony to cement Willis’s charges.”

  “If he’s serving a life sentence for murder, Billie would be free to raise her children.” Gwen closed her eyes. “She told me about talking to you. When you asked her to talk to the FBI, she got scared. She tossed that phone and bought another one.”

  “Will you give us the number?” he said.

  “Jase, that’s a tough call. She’s over five months pregnant with the twins and sick every morning. Zack is being a little man, and yet he needs his mommy.”

  Time to get woman to woman. “Is Billie under a doctor’s care?” April said.

  Gwen dabbed beneath her eyes. “Not since she and Zack escaped Willis. He threatened to kill her if she left him.” She stared at her hands. “I can’t imagine what she’s going through.”

  “This is not a time for her to be alone.” April spoke genuine caring into her words.

  “Do you think Willis killed Russell Edwards?” Gwen said. “I’ve been following the news online.”

  “We’re not certain. But all of this is tied together somehow.”

  “Poor Carrie—she never handled life well.” She trembled. “What happened to small-town living? I’m going to call Billie now. See if she’ll listen to reason.” Gwen excused herself from the room.

  “You made the right decision in seeking out Billie’s sister,” April said. “She cares about her sister and is concerned on many levels.”

  “They were always close, and being the older sister gives Gwen influence.” He sighed.

  When Gwen returned, her eyes were rimmed in red. “She consented if FBI agents escort her from a hotel in Phoenix to the airport, and Houston agents meet her at the airport and drive her to a hotel. She doesn’t want to return to Sweet Briar until everything is settled. Maybe never.” She inhaled in an obvious attempt to contain ragged emotions. “Billie will tell the authorities all she knows about Willis’s activities.”

  April leaned back against the sofa. “Thank you. I can make the arrangements now.”

  Gwen gave Jason a slip of paper. “This is her number. She wants to talk to you.”

  In the rental car outside of Gwen’s home, Jason spoke to Billie. “I’m proud of you for protecting your children and your willingness to testify against Willis.”

  “I’m afraid. I won’t deny it. But my children have given me strength to fight for them. A part of me would like to return home, and another part of me is fine with starting all over.”

  “It will work out. How quickly can you be ready to leave?”

  “There’s a 4 p.m. flight tomorrow. Zack and I can be on it. We aren’t exactly at the hotel in Phoenix yet.”

  Another protective measure. “Agent April Ramos is with me, and she’ll ensure travel and lodging arrangements are taken care of.”

  “Jason, I’m frightened. Willis is out there somewhere.”

  “You’ll be protected all the way. I imagine Willis is more afraid for his own hide right now.”

  Billie sniffed. “Thanks. Are you flying home soon?”

  “We each have rooms for tonight, then we’ll head back to Houston on a 6 a.m. flight. Call or text me when you arrive or if you need to talk.” He thought about his parents and Isabella. “On second thought, don’t contact me until the FBI says it’s safe to do so.”

  The call over, he started the rental car’s engine. “Whether Willis killed Russell or knows who did, I’m satisfied we’re helping Billie. Spending hours on this may seem foolish when we haven’t found Russell’s killer, Joey Frederickson, and whoever attacked Brenda. But it was the right thing to do.” He drove toward the hotel.

  “I’d like to check on Brenda.”

  “You read my mind.”

  April contacted the hospital in Houston. “She’s conscious. Do you want to stop there in the morning after we land?”

  “Yes, let’s do that. But right now I’m dead tired and hungry. What about an early dinner?”

  She slid him a sideways glance. “I’d settle for a cold burger and sleep.”

  58

  THE MORNING DRIVE from IAH to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston smacked into traffic, temper to temper, lurching ahead, swinging and jerking from one lane to another. Making minuscule progress. One more reason why Jason didn’t live in the city.

  “It’s 10:15, and look at this mess,” he said. “I refuse to let this get under my skin, but it’s tempting.”

  “I haven’t missed this part of living in Houston,” April said.

  He laughed. “I’d never get used to it.”r />
  In the parking garage at the medical plaza, Jason turned off the truck engine. Memorial Hermann was an easy walk, and after being stuck in the truck and battling traffic, he wanted to sprint to Brenda’s room.

  The lobby hit him with the same foreboding smells as the night Brenda had been taken to Tyler County Hospital. The assault of sterile, antiseptic reminders could take him years to get over. What would he do if Isabella ever needed to be hospitalized?

  Hold on to God—which made more sense than losing sleep and having fear as a constant companion. For the past few weeks, he’d allowed emotions to rule his actions and allowed his faith to become a thin thread.

  But the odds no longer rolled like weighted dice. Evidence, like opposite poles of a magnet, rushed together, implicating those who’d been forced or willingly took orders from Willis.

  April approached a young man at the information desk and gave him Brenda’s name. “Just a moment,” the man said. “I have a note here to check with the nurses’ station before allowing visitors in.” He made the call and listened, then faced April. “Ms. Krew is conscious but unable to speak.”

  “Is the damage temporary?” April said.

  “You’d need to speak to the doctor.”

  April thanked him, and the two walked to the elevator. Even if he didn’t agree with some of her actions, he hated the thought that Brenda’s vibrant personality might be drastically changed.

  Jason took April’s hand. “Is every case this complicated?”

  She frowned. “Some are much worse. Imagine how we’d be feeling if Brenda’s attacker had succeeded.”

  The elevator door opened, and they stepped inside. “Communicating with Brenda will be a challenge,” she said. “I should have checked with Simon or the hospital before we drove in.”

  “I’d still want to see her.”

  She whirled to him. “You’ve done all you could. You’re stressed, and I get it, but it could be worse.”

  “Yes, she could have died.”

  Outside Brenda’s room, an HPD officer stood guard. After presenting their IDs, April and Jason entered the private room.

  He sucked in a breath. Her pallor and the cavernous pits below her eyes added years to her face. “Brenda,” he said, “it’s Jason. April and I are here to see you.”

  Her eyelids fluttered and opened.

  He took her hand into his. “I realize you can’t speak.” He smiled. “Can’t imagine Brenda Krew not having a sales pitch or putting me in my place.”

  Her eyes watered.

  “Don’t you get all emotional on me. The woman I know would give me a piece of her mind. We’re here because we care about you. Whoever hurt you won’t get away with this. I promise.”

  Brenda attempted to lift her arm with the IV. The strain must have been too much. She nodded. Good, she could answer yes and no questions.

  “I assume the police and FBI have been here.” When she affirmed it, he asked if she could identify who’d struck her. Her positive response joined forces with drawn features. “I’m sorry you’re going through this, but lots of folks at home are praying for you.”

  A slight smile met him.

  “I have an idea.” April whirled around. “Be right back.”

  Jason watched her small frame disappear. “Know what, Brenda? She’s special, and I think Lily would have liked her too.”

  April returned with a notepad. “The nurse said Brenda’s head injury affected the Broca’s area of the brain, controlling her speech, and while she hasn’t been able to write anything, we’re welcome to try.” She handed the notepad and pen to Brenda. “Can you tell us who hurt you?”

  Confusion shadowed the woman’s eyes.

  “It’s okay.” April smiled. “Just a thought.”

  After promising to return in a few days, Jason and April left the hospital, taking a quick jaunt to her home in the Heights so she could grab a few outfits.

  “I requested the protection for Brenda,” she said. “Although she isn’t able to clearly communicate, I believe she does know who attacked her.”

  “I agree she’s in danger,” he said. “We have our work cut out for us since Joey is on the loose.”

  “Word is out on the streets, including informants in the drug world. The problem is she could be anywhere, dead or alive.”

  He had questions upon questions to ask Joey. Number one being why she nabbed his daughter. “Willis eliminates those in his way. Like you, I hope Joey isn’t one of them. We’ve been working this together for a week now. Progress isn’t fast enough.”

  She looked up from watering an ivy plant in her kitchen. “It hasn’t been all bad. We’ve made arrests, and your family’s tucked away.”

  He acknowledged the truth of what they’d uncovered. “Are you a better person for it?”

  She moved on to another plant. “We both are.” She set the small sprinkling can on the kitchen counter. “Stronger. Wiser. We’re survivors.”

  “And this thing between us? Where are you with that?”

  “Nothing’s changed.” Brown eyes caught his attention. “Mr. Snyder, have you changed your mind?”

  “Not by a long shot, but something Simon said won’t leave me alone.”

  She stepped in front of him, and he wrapped his arms around her. His chin fit on the top of her head. “Tell me what he said.”

  “‘No relationship lasts when it begins with danger and supercharged emotions.’”

  “Sounds like Simon. He’s the big-brother type. Told me to be careful with you. I told him not to worry.”

  “I understand how he’d want to protect you from getting hurt. Considering how we started with me nabbing you, this relationship gives ‘love your enemies’ a different slant.”

  “Simon will be all right. He and his wife have taken over the duties of family since mine aren’t happy about my career.”

  “Are they afraid for you?”

  “They expected me to use my doctorate in political science to teach at a university or dive into politics. I pursued the degree to please them, but neither of those two careers appealed to me. Serving the FBI fills me with satisfaction. It’s where I’m supposed to be.”

  “Have you told them how you feel?”

  “Our relationship is more surface than what I see with you and your parents.”

  “How would they react to you seeing me?”

  She pulled back from him. “Ecstatically. Don’t ask why.” She patted his arm. “I’m good to go.”

  Oh, the master of changing the subject. “Not yet.” He drew her back into his arms and kissed her.

  The moment gave him a much-needed break from overthinking, overworking, and overstressing about Isabella and even where this crazy friendship with April was going. But lingering questions demanded answers, and the unsolved aspects of the case slammed back to the forefront.

  “Ready to get back on the road?” he said.

  She put the watering can away under the sink and hoisted her shoulder bag. “When all the arrests are made, you’ll discover none of these horrific crimes were your fault.”

  59

  WHILE JASON DROVE BACK to Sweet Briar, April watched the landscape zip by, seeing little but a blur. Joey Frederickson took precedence in her thoughts as a critical component of wrapping up this crime. April didn’t want to think about what Joey had planned to do with Isabella after kidnapping her. And she could have attacked her own mother. Drug users often partnered with desperation, which made Joey extremely dangerous.

  “What have we missed?” Her words echoed her thoughts. “Could Willis have schemed his own vengeance and used only Joey Frederickson, Vic Henley, and Hunter Barker to accomplish it? Neither man resembles the one who walked into the bank and gained access to your parents’ safe-deposit box. He didn’t even look like your dad.”

  “But you have a theory,” Jason said.

  “Speculating here. The one characteristic the video footage couldn’t hide was the man’s slender build. Joey has the hei
ght, and the rest of the disguise is easy.”

  “We won’t know until she’s found. That girl has lots of information.” He parked the car outside an antique shop, closed for the day.

  “Hungry?”

  “Grilled cheese and Vicki’s tomato soup?”

  “Not exactly. The restaurant down the street is open late on Wednesday nights. Helps people get to church on time. Tonight’s special is liver and onions and greens.”

  She scrunched her nose. “Anything else on the menu?”

  He laughed. “Lots of down-home eating choices.”

  “Sure, Mr. Liver and Onions. Guess I can deal with the smell.”

  In the distance, the cadence of the high school band’s fight song broke out. The football team had scored the winning touchdown last week and was heading to district. Home. He loved it.

  Out of the truck, he took April’s hand, not caring who saw or what rumors might start simmering about them. Inside the restaurant, Miss Ella, dressed in orange from a wide-brimmed hat to orange shoes, approached them. In the midst of the other diners’ talking and a crying baby, she poked her finger at Jason’s chest.

  “You weren’t at church on Sunday.” Miss Ella slid April a sideways look. “Neither were you. Tell me, were you two working on bringing justice to Sweet Briar or off doing something you shouldn’t have been?”

  “Working,” Jason said, “and making headway.”

  “New information is keeping us busy,” April said.

  Miss Ella lifted her chin. “Good. I’ll get back to praying and enjoying my liver and onions. The greens are a little tough tonight. But you can’t find fresh ones this time of year.”

  “You have a good evening, Miss Ella.” He bit back a grin April would have termed insolent.

  “I think she’ll have a special place in heaven,” April whispered as she studied the evening specials. “But remind me to never cross her.”

  “Aw, she likes you. Did you figure out what you want?”