by Jen Talty
Bile hit the back of his throat with such force that his only recourse was to punch the wall. He left a small dent in the drywall, and now blood speckled his knuckles, but the action didn’t elevate the sense of dread he felt. He should have told Patty a long time ago.
“You’re going to pay for that.” Patty stood behind him, hands on her hips.
“I suspect I will,” he said. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I suppose morning sickness of some kind.”
He supposed the shock of his confession just made her ill. “I’ve never told anyone about Jessica before.”
“No one?” She touched his arm, a soft touch that could have meant anything or nothing, and yet it meant everything to him.
He shook his head. “I did another tour of active duty, but Nana drove me nuts with her worry, so a year later, I came back and became a cop and started making my way through various stations. She still drives me nuts, but she worries less.”
“I’m so very sorry about what Jessica did,” Patty said, “but it doesn’t excuse not telling me.”
“I know.”
She laced her fingers through his and drew him back into the family room. “I understand a lot more about who you are, that’s for sure.” Her words were soft and tender.
“I should have divorced her years ago.” He was grateful to sit on the sofa next to Patty, holding her hand, feeling her thumb caress his rough skin. They had something. Something special, and he was going to make it right. “I avoided it because I can’t stand to think about her or what she did to our… Well, I can’t change what she did.”
“No, you can’t,” Patty said. “So, where is this wife now?”
He shrugged. “I have no idea, but I hired someone to try to find her. This guy Brad. You might remember him from Lacy’s case. Nana is also checking in with her family to see if they still live in New Jersey.”
“This is a lot to process.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said, pulling her in closer, resting his head on top of hers, smelling the fresh melon scent from her shampoo.
“I believe you. Still need time to process.” She ended the embrace long before he was ready to let go. If he was being honest, he never wanted to let her go. The knowledge he’d just broken her heart put a pain in his gut that he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to get rid of. “Why don’t we have dinner or something tomorrow?” she asked.
“That sounds nice.”
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
He nodded, letting things settle into perspective and feeling better. Now, on to deal with this Holland asshole, and divorce his wife.
With only one boot on, he flew down the stairs, two at a time. He wasn’t surprised to find Frank waiting by the door, arms down by his sides, but puffed out like a rooster ready to fight.
“I should beat the shit out of you,” Frank said.
“Probably,” Reese agreed. “But we need to set that aside, because Keith Holland—”
“I don’t give a shit about your stupid hotel.”
“Shut up and listen to me.” Reese shook his head. “Holland put the squeeze on Patty. Threatened her, without threatening her.”
“What do you mean?”
“Conrad tried to fire her. Holland gave her a day to change my mind about buying the hotel.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
“She gets fired. He made an implied threat about her ‘condition,’” Reese said. “So, can you put aside your anger for five minutes and help me figure out how to connect all this? Because if that Terry guy was slimy, I bet his former boss is worse.”
“We haven’t identified any connection other than working for Holland Development, which is a huge company. Holland didn’t even know that guy.”
Reese arched a brow.
“Okay,” Frank said. “I get it, but once we figure that out, I’m going to use you for a punching bag.”
“I’m sure there will be a long line of people waiting to follow your lead.”
Chapter Seven
“WHAT DID YOU FIND OUT FROM THE FBI?” Jared asked.
“They’re looking into Holland,” Reese said, “but they won’t fill me in. Something about how it’s not a State matter.”
“My contact at the State Attorney’s Office,” Stacey said. “She has a different perspective. They tried to build a case against Holland a few years ago and came up way short, but he’s always on their radar.”
“Who is your contact?” Jared asked.
“A classmate from undergrad,” Stacey said. “Her name is Bethany Ingrid, and she’s sending us everything she can, which isn’t much. I’ve been able to pull tons of information about Holland and his employee, Terry. It’s all printing now. I’ll share it when it’s done.”
“Wow,” Reese said. “The little girl has contacts. Impressive.”
“You don’t want to be pushing my buttons,” Stacey said. “I know all about your little wife, and I think Frank over there should have done more than split your lip.”
“This is not the place,” Jared said. “I don’t want any personal crap brought in here. It happens again, someone will be taking a long leave, got it?”
“Yes, sir,” Stacey said.
“Frank?” Jared asked. “I’m good.”
Reese nodded. He knew Frank was still pissed, but he also knew that Patty had given him the entire story. Not all was forgiven, but the emotions were less raw, and they agreed to put any personal shit on hold until all this stuff had been cleared up.
“That’s really weird,” Stacey said as she compiled some of the paperwork Jared’s secretary had brought her.
“What?” Jared asked.
“Nothing, just that Reese sort of looks like Holland. The chin is the same. So are the eyes, well the color, not so much the shape.”
“No, I don’t,” Reese said, but Stacey held up the picture and the resemblance floored him. It was subtle, but it was there. “I guess I do.” He looked between the two pictures, noting the similarities, then focused on the differences.
“Everyone has a twin,” Stacey said. “I’m always told I look like Kelly Ripa.”
“You do,” Reese said. For some reason, that knowledge made him feel better.
“Let’s get back on track,” Jared said. “So Terry had been picked up a few times, but never convicted. What were the charges, and how did they get dropped so quickly?”
“Robbery, first degree,” Reese said. “And it looks like a high-priced attorney got all the charges dropped each time.”
“Who’s the attorney?” Jared asked.
“Someone at Baker, Wolowitz, Ramond, and Healy,” Reese said. “A large firm out of New York City, with a satellite office in Albany.”
“That’s the firm that Doug’s wife works for,” Stacey said.
“Can you ask her about Terry, and why their firm handled it?” Reese asked.
“Not sure she’ll tell me anything.”
“Go in uniform,” Jared said. “Make it seem official.”
“I’m not going to scare her, but I’ll see what I can find out.”
“So, I’ve got a question,” Frank said. “Why is someone like Holland using a local attorney for the Heritage Inn deal? I’m sure he’s got some big, fancy lawyer that handles all this for him on other projects.”
“Yeah, Baker, Wolowitz, Ramond, and Healy,” Jared added. “Let’s take this in the big room.”
The big room was where they kept the whiteboard, blackboard, and corkboard for working major cases. They currently had none, and this technically wasn’t one yet. Jared and Stacey pinned up pictures of all the players, or if they didn’t have a picture, they wrote the names. On the whiteboard, they diagrammed how those players were connected. They used the chalkboard for theories that could be adjusted or deleted as they moved through the case.
Right now, there were no theories.
Reese straddled one of the chairs and studied the boards. Frank leaned against the doorjamb, arm
s folded, deep in thought. Stacey and Jared stood to the side, hands on their hips, staring at the board.
“So,” Stacey said, surprising Reese with her initiative as she jumped right in. “Terry worked for Holland Development in construction.” She pulled out a file. “He worked there with a clean record for ten years. Three years ago, a building he supervised construction on had some issues, and people got hurt. He was suspended for six months, then brought back on, then fired because—and this is where it gets interesting—Winston and Associates found some issues with the accounting on one of the sites. It appears Terry was pulling a fast one and pocketing some money.”
“The interesting part,” Reese said. “Just to clarify, Winston and Associates is our one and only Conrad, right?”
Stacey nodded. She flipped through other paperwork. “Holland does use Mary’s firm, but not the Albany office. He uses the one in New York City. It appears Conrad does subcontract work for the satellite office, which wouldn’t be that unusual, except the construction site was downstate.”
“That is interesting,” Frank said.
“That still doesn’t give us a big enough common denominator,” Reese said. “There are logical explanations to all these connections, except the high-priced attorney getting Terry out of community service or a year in jail.”
“I’ll go check into that now,” Stacey said. “Reese, you want to ride shotgun?”
He laughed. “You’re still sitting passenger, little girl.”
Just as they left the big room, the doors to the station opened. Not many people walked into the trooper station out of the blue, so it was a shock to see Keith Holland, with his hauntingly similar eyes, enter the building with his entourage.
“Is a Reese McGinn here?” Keith Holland said.
“That’s me.” Reese stepped forward. “What can I do for you?” He noticed that Frank and Stacey maneuvered toward the front desk and pretended to look over a file together. Jared leaned over the secretary’s desk.
“Is there a place we can talk privately?”
“Not really. And you are...?” Reese knew exactly who stood in front of him, but he wasn’t going to let him now that.
“Keith Holland of Holland Development, and you and I find ourselves in a bit of a predicament.”
“How is that?”
Keith smiled as he looked around the station, taking in the bland ambience while he took off his gloves, finger by finger. Reese knew he meant to intimidate, with his legs spread shoulder-width and the way he carried himself.
Not many people could intimidate Reese, and Keith Holland was not one of them. Even with his hauntingly similar eyes.
“I’d prefer to do this in private. Do you have an office?”
Reese held his arms open. “This is my office, and I’ve got to get out on patrol, so unless this is a matter of police business, which our desk officer can discuss with you, I suggest you let me know what this is about.”
Holland closed the gap. Reese figured Holland expected him to take a few steps backward, so Reese instead met him halfway.
“I have a business proposition for you.” Holland smiled as if he’d just solved the world’s problems.
“And what is that?”
“I’ll pay you twice your offer if you back away from the Heritage deal.”
“I don’t want money,” Reese said. “I have plenty of that. I do, however, want that hotel, so thanks, but no thanks.”
“I find it fascinating that a state trooper would want to run a hotel. You know what I’d like to do with the property?”
“Build condos,” Reese retorted.
Holland laughed. “My dear boy, of course not. I’m looking to make this my summer home. Bring my family. My children. My grandchildren. You see, I’m not getting any younger, and I want to slow down and spend time with what’s really important in life. I suspect you can understand that.” He leaned in and whispered, “I think you should consider my offer. It will be beneficial to both of us.”
Reese leaned in and whispered back, “I’m glad you finally manned up, instead of threatening a young woman.”
“I didn’t threaten anyone,” Holland said. “I’m just saying the offer will expire at the end of today. I’ve got deep pockets, son. I know yours don’t run as deep. This is a battle you don’t want. It’s a battle I don’t want. I just want to spend time with my family, that’s all.”
And with that, Holland turned on his very expensive heels, then walked out the door, his entourage in tow.
“Well, that was exciting,” Stacey said.
Reese shook out his hands. He had to admit, he did sort of look like that guy, so he was creepy, as well as threatening.
“That man has balls,” Jared said.
“I suspect he’s got a big prick to go with those balls,” Frank added.
“I’d hate to hear what you’d say if that were a woman waltzing in here like that, spouting off crap like that,” Stacey said.
“Little girl,” Jared said, “let’s just say even you would blush.” Jared tapped Stacey’s nose. “Now, go out there and find me some connections, and just maybe I’ll admit to changing your diaper.”
“You’ve got a deal.”
“I knew having her here would be weird,” Frank muttered.
She might add an odd element to the station house, but it was also refreshing. “All right, little girl, let’s go,” Reese said.
Chapter Eight
PATTY DUMPED THE BOXES from her aunt’s house at the top of the stairs. Baby stuff.
“Need a hand?” Lacy said from the bottom of the stairs.
“I’m good.”
“Want to come down and talk?”
“Actually, I do.” Patty kicked a box into her hallway, then headed back down with a heavy heart. This should have been a time of joy and hope, but she felt only confusion and trepidation. All she wanted was to bring a child into a happy and healthy environment. She wanted Reese to be part of the environment. The wife was an issue, and Patty still wasn’t sure how Reese really felt about her. He was opening up, but being honest didn’t equal being in love.
“Frank told me about your situation with the job.” Lacy held up a bottle of red wine.
“No, thanks.”
“He also told me Reese was married.”
Bad news traveled fast. “Yeah, that came as a shocker, and I have no idea what to do with it. We’d been getting along so well. He was opening up, and we were enjoying each other. Almost like a couple, but then, bam, ‘Oh, by the way, I’m married.’” Patty sank into the plush leather sofa. Lacy’s family room didn’t overlook the lake, but it had a nice view of thick, lush pine trees. The lights from the cars on Route 9 flickered against the snow-dusted trees as the moon casted its eerie glow. “It’s not even that he’s been married, or even still married, though that is pretty icky...but he had so many chances to tell me. I don’t understand why he didn’t, especially since he’s hell-bent on us living under the same roof.”
“From what Frank told me, it seems Reese just wanted to brush it all under the rug, and I guess I can’t blame him. Pretty cold, what his wife did.”
“You should have seen the look on his face when he told me. I can tell he loved that baby, even when the baby no longer existed. It was heart-wrenching. But I have a hard time forgiving him for not telling me he was married. It makes me wonder what other secrets he has that he’s not sharing, and that’s no way to start a relationship.”
“Frank was so hurt about the fact Reese was married that he never even got a chance to be happy about you and the baby. And he really is happy for you.”
“Frank has the biggest man-crush on Reese, it’s almost gross,” Patty said.
A long silence filled the room. It wasn’t uncomfortable. Lacy had become more than her cousin’s wife. She’d become Patty’s best friend. Her confidant. Her sister from another mother, so to speak. She could say anything to Lacy, or not say anything, and they’d work through it. Lacy was always hon
est and upfront. Patty admired that, even when it hurt her feelings or she disagreed. Negative feelings between them never lasted.
“I feel like Reese and I can’t move forward until this marriage thing is cleared.” Patty tucked her feet up under her. She sipped her water as she stared at the electric fireplace.
“Nothing you can do until he finds her and takes care of it. I know he’s using department resources, and I guess the Sutten girl has a few contacts helping with the search. It’s only a matter of time.”
“I’m worried something else from his past is going to reach out and derail me again.”
“He’s totally changed this last year. We were all a little surprised you broke up. It was kind of obvious Reese had it bad for you.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Patty asked.
“No. Frank said he’d changed the second he started dating you.”
“I don’t know,” Patty said. “Between knowing about his family, a wife, and being rich, I’m just overwhelmed. I thought the man I was sleeping with just wanted a life with no ties. No commitments. The freedom to move about the world the moment he got bored. I could have lived with him being a part-time dad. I didn’t bargain for a millionaire buying a hotel, and oh, by the way, he’s married—but he wants to make it work with me. That’s not the man I was sleeping with.”
“Actually...” Lacy turned to face Patty, the moon shining through the window, dancing in her blond hair. She was not only beautiful, but she was confident, and it showed. “That is exactly the man you were sleeping with. You knew he had secrets. A past. That he was emotionally unavailable. Broken, even. You just didn’t know the why. Now you know the why.”
“That doesn’t make this any easier. I feel like he’s reacting, and not acting.”
“How do you mean?”
“He tells me things only when he has to.”
Andy barreled through the door. “Turn on the news!”
