For some reason Brinley didn’t want to think the poor woman had been shot by a man she loved.
“Except that the jewels never showed up in any pawn shops or guys fencing stolen goods. If they stole the jewelry they didn’t do anything with it,” West pointed out. “Why steal something if you’re never going to use it?”
“People steal art paintings just so they can possess them.” Logan plucked a potato chip from the bowl on the table. “It’s what it represents more than the money.”
“So you think the husband did it then?” Huck plopped his head on her knee and she gave him a scratch behind his ears.
“The police seemed to think so but they didn’t have much evidence to go with their theory. At this point I could go either way.” West paged through the file folder he’d brought from police headquarters. “It’s really kind of sad that there’s so little here. It doesn’t reflect well on the detectives working twenty years ago.”
“No witnesses. No murder weapon. Conflicting statements and a victim others really didn’t like much. A cop’s worst nightmare,” Logan mused. “Add in the fact that small town cops didn’t have much in the way of DNA back then. You might want to cut them some slack.”
West’s lips twisted and he shut the folder with a snap. “You’re right. They talked to the neighbors, friends, everyone they could think of. They went over the house with a fine-tooth comb. No fingerprints or hairs that shouldn’t be there, which is one of the reasons they were leaning toward the husband. The whole thing is sad. It tore the family apart from what I can see.”
“Family?” Brinley frowned as Jason piled burgers on a platter and set them in the middle of the table. “Did they have children? What happened to them?”
“One child. A son from Wendell Barnes’s first marriage.” Jason waved a spatula toward the file. “Damian Barnes was a teenager when it happened. Out with friends at a movie. He’s the one that found the body.”
Brinley shuddered. “Ugh. I imagine that would stay with you the rest of your life. Did you know him?”
West frowned and shook his head. “Jason and I were older. In college when he was in high school.” West scribbled something on a piece of paper. “We’ll need to talk to him and the father. And of course Gail Denton. I know she’s over at the assisted living place but I have no idea where the other two ended up.”
Logan piled his burger high with pickles, lettuce and tomato. “Follow the money. From what I read the family is loaded. Would your parents know the Barnes or remember them?”
Jason sat down and joined the rest of them around the table. “That’s a good question. Maybe I should show up at Sunday dinner tomorrow and find out.”
West groaned and slumped in his chair. “Don’t even say that. If you go and start asking questions they’re going to ask where I am. Shit.”
“Why don’t you want to go?” Brinley asked, although she couldn’t keep from smiling at West’s comically tortured expression. From the little she’d heard from Jason the Anderson family was close-knit and quite happy.
“They ask him when he’s going to settle down and give them grandchildren,” Jason laughed and winked at Brinley. “Mom is always trying to fix him up.”
“The only reason she’s given up on you is–” West’s grin immediately died and everyone fell silent, the levity from only moments ago completely gone, leaving a grim tension in its wake.
Jason looked around the table, his expression somber. “We all know why so there’s no reason to pretend. Let’s get back to the case. That’s what is really important.” He turned to West. “Can you find the Barnes family or should I put Jared on it?”
“We can find them. Logan’s right. We’ll follow the money. But it wouldn’t hurt to ask Mom and Dad what they remember about the case.”
Jason shook his fork at West playfully. “We’ll both ask them. Together.”
West took a long draw from his beer. “I hope it’s pot roast. That would make it worth it.”
“Then maybe tomorrow while you two are with your family I’ll go over and give my house a good top to bottom cleaning. I haven’t had a chance since the break in.”
Three sets of eyes swung toward Brinley and she squirmed under their incredulous gaze. Finally Jason spoke.
“Absolutely not. Someone broke in. Why we don’t know, but it still isn’t safe for you to be alone over there. You’ll come with us tomorrow.”
Go with them to meet Mommy and Daddy?
Absolutely not. No way. Not going to happen.
Chapter Sixteen
‡
Brinley looked ready to bolt back to the car. Her usual sunny smile was replaced with a frown of worry despite Jason’s assurances that his parents were friendly people. Hell, if they thought he was serious with Brinley they’d probably fall all over themselves to welcome her into the family. Jason’s mother was desperate to see him happy and settled after everything he’d been through.
Brinley looked lovely today in a flowered sundress that showed off her golden skin and luscious curves. She’d left her long brown hair loose and it hung in waves to the middle of her back, making his fingers itch to run his hands through it. He had a distinct memory from the other night regarding how silky it felt.
Jason hugged his mother and shook hands with his father but both his parents were paying attention to the woman behind him. He stepped aside and wrapped an arm around Brinley’s waist, pulling her forward.
“Mom. Dad. I’d like you to meet a good friend, Brinley Snow. She moved into the house next to mine. Brinley, this is my mother and father, Marie and Peter Anderson.”
“It’s nice to meet you both.” Brinley shook hands with his parents while Jason’s mother kept giving him excited sidelong glances. Marie Anderson thought this was the big introduction. That Brinley was the one. Jason would have to pull his mother aside today and let her know as gently as he could that Brinley had only come into his life a short time ago. It was much too soon to be declaring anything serious. Although if he were going to get serious, Brinley would be exactly the kind of woman he’d want.
“Brinley. What an unusual name,” Marie exclaimed as she took Brinley by the hand and led her into the dining room. “You’re the first I’ve met. Is it a family name, dear?”
Brinley looked nervously over her shoulder at Jason as she was being led away like a lamb to slaughter. Before Marie Anderson was done she’d know every little detail about Brinley, including her grandmother’s maiden name. His mother had missed her calling. She should have worked for the NSA.
Jason felt a little guilty but he knew better than to interfere with his mother when she had a goal in mind. If he and Brinley had any sort of future, and he didn’t even know if that’s what he wanted, she’d need to learn how to handle his mother.
“No, just one my parents liked. Something smells wonderful. Is it pot roast?”
“It is. Do you like to cook?” Marie didn’t wait for an answer, continuing to lead Brinley away from Jason. “Why don’t you come into the kitchen and we can talk recipes?”
Jason, West, and his father watched the two women disappear behind the swinging door to the kitchen in silence.
“Do you think we’ll ever see Brinley again?” West said in a mock serious tone. “Poor girl. She has no idea that she’s being pumped for information and vetted as the future Mrs. Jason Anderson. If she did, she’d run out the door and never look back.”
Peter Anderson slapped Jason on the back and smiled. “I’m sure your girl will be fine. How long have you two been together?”
“She’d not exactly my girl. We’re…friends. Good friends.”
A friend that Jason had kissed. And fantasized about seeing naked.
His father gave him a knowing look. “Of course. Friends. Well, she seems like a nice girl. Very pretty. You said she’s your neighbor?”
“She lives in Gail Denton’s old place. Which leads me to a question, Dad. What do you know about the Barnes family and the murder that
took place there twenty years ago?”
“Does Dad need a lawyer?”
Jason hadn’t heard his oldest brother enter the house but that query had come from Travis Anderson who ran the business side of the family holdings. Tall and dark-haired just like the rest of the Anderson clan, he leaned heavily on a cane due to hip surgery after a motorcycle accident a year ago. Pain was etched on Travis’s face, making him look older than his forty-two years but he was still smiling, albeit with difficulty.
“No attorney required. I was just wondering what he remembered,” Jason replied as he hugged his brother. “It’s good to see you. I thought you were still in New York.”
Travis was spending time in the Big Apple working with a rehab specialist.
“I’ve been home for several days. You and West have been busy with your new case.”
“You heard about it then?” West asked as they sat down in the living room. “Do you remember anything about the Barnes family?”
Travis rubbed his chin and set his cane down on the floor, sliding it behind his feet. “I remember Wendell Barnes coming here to the house a few times but that’s it. I don’t think I ever met his wife.”
Peter Anderson stood and strode over to the bar in the corner of the room. Silver-haired but still vital and energetic in his mid-sixties, he’d been the driving force behind Anderson Industries since its inception forty years ago. What had started as progressive ranching had grown into mining, oil, and banking making their father one of the richest men in Montana, if not the entire western half of the country.
“If we’re going to talk about that murder twenty years ago I’m going to have to have a drink. Anyone want to join me?”
Peter poured four glasses of whiskey and West helped him pass out the drinks before they all sat back down.
“So you do remember the murder.” Jason tossed back the liquor, enjoying the burn all the way down to his belly. “I guess we were all at college.”
“All three of you boys were gone at the time. It was a terrible thing, really. Everyone in town knew that Linda and Dell had marital problems. Linda loved to spend money and she was frustrated with Dell’s ideas about living a frugal life. She hated that house. Thought it was way too small. She wanted something she could throw lavish parties in and decorate expensively. Never made a secret about it either. Her complaints were loud and frequent to anyone who would listen.”
“So everyone thought Wendell did it?” West prompted. “Did you?”
“No, but I don’t know if I would call Dell a nice man either. He could be ruthless in business and he definitely didn’t lack self-esteem. But a murderer? I doubt it. From what I remember he hated guns. He only had them in the house for protection. They’d been robbed a few times.”
Robbed more than once in a town like Tremont? That alone was strange.
West cleared his throat noisily. “So you say Wendell didn’t like guns, Dad? And that they’d been robbed? That wasn’t in the police report.”
“Dell hated guns. He begrudgingly bought one when they were robbed about six months before Linda was shot.” Tom frowned and took another sip of his whiskey. “I don’t remember what the burglars took though.”
“The cops found him at the lake. He said he was fishing in the middle of the night. Was he a fisherman?”
Tom sighed and shook his head. “Not that I ever heard of. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t. We weren’t close friends, only acquaintances. Maybe Damian was into fishing.”
“What happened to him?” Jason’s fingers tightened around the highball glass. So far he hadn’t learned anything earthshattering. “The file doesn’t say a thing and I don’t remember him at all.”
“He was younger, of course.” Peter rubbed his chin in thought. “A nice boy. Very smart. When Linda died Dell sent him off to boarding school in upstate New York. I don’t think he ever came to visit his Aunt Gail, which is a shame. She’s a sweet woman and deserved better treatment than she got by Wendell.”
It looked like there was plenty of animosity to go around in the Barnes family. But if Jason could finally solve Linda Barnes’s murder, he would bet that he would solve Roger Gaines’s at the same time.
“I’ll be talking to Gail,” Jason revealed. “And I’m going to need to talk to Wendell and Damian as well. Plus anyone else who might have had a motive.”
“It’s a two for one. We find one killer it will lead us to the other.” West finished his whiskey and slapped it down on the coffee table. His father went back to the bar and poured himself another.
Travis picked up his cane and struggled to his feet.
“Neither Wendell nor Linda were very well liked in this community. Some people might not want to walk down that memory lane with you so be careful.”
“Like who?” West asked, getting to his feet. “I’m not giving the rich and powerful a pass on this investigation.”
“I have a distinct memory of Wendell in the study with Dad and another man. Wendell and that man were at each other’s throats and Dad was trying to keep the peace.”
“So who was it?” Jason stood as well, too restless to sit still.
Travis grinned, the look of pain and fatigue temporarily falling away. “Mayor Leon Cavendish. Of course he wasn’t the mayor then. Have fun questioning him.”
West groaned and slapped his forehead. “Shit. Just…shit.”
Jason and West were about to dig up a few buried secrets in this town, and it was not going to go over well.
*
“So how long have you known Jason?”
Marie Anderson was probably somewhere in her sixties but looked ten years younger. Her eyes were the same shade of green as Jason’s and she had the same easy smile. The older woman had been delicately asking Brinley questions about her family, Chicago, and teaching but apparently the pussyfooting was over and done. The questions were becoming more direct and she didn’t mind a bit. Of course Jason’s mother would want to know who her son was spending time with.
“Not long actually. Until the whole…well, murder thing…we were really just acquaintances. Waving and smiling as we went about our lives.”
“Such a sad incident. And you say you didn’t know this man at all?” Marie Anderson pulled the roast from the oven and then sat down at the table with Brinley. “We’ll let that rest for a few minutes and then serve dinner.”
“Not at all. He was a complete stranger. But that’s why I want to get to the bottom of this.”
“I thought you had.” Marie frowned in confusion. “You said he had your address because of the murder that took place there twenty years ago.”
Brinley blushed and shifted in her chair. “Well, yes, but I want to know who killed him and why. Was he shot because of what he knew about Linda Barnes or is it another reason? Something completely unrelated?”
“You sound like my sons,” Marie laughed. “Since they were kids they’ve been curious. It wasn’t a surprise when West and Jason went into law enforcement.”
“They seem like they know their jobs.”
A strange expression passed over Marie Anderson’s face, leaving behind a shadow of sadness.
“I’m not unhappy that Jason left the DEA. I always worried about him. And then of course the worst really did happen. We had no idea what happened to him for weeks. I thought…”
Brinley couldn’t stop herself from reaching out to this woman. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through. The waiting. Not knowing. It must have been a nightmare.”
Her eyes bright with unshed tears, Marie nodded. “A parent wants their child to be happy and healthy. But I knew that if they hadn’t already killed him that he was neither of those things. You should have seen him when he first escaped. Thin as a rail and covered in sores and cuts. He spent some time in the hospital also because he was severely dehydrated.”
Brinley squeezed Marie’s hand. “He’s a strong man.”
Jason’s mother took a deep breath and smiled. “All my boys are, my daug
hter Leann too. They get that from their father. Still, I worry about Jason. I can’t imagine that a person could go through something like that and not be changed in some way.”
Brinley didn’t want to mention how Jason couldn’t sleep so many nights.
“Time is a great healer,” she said instead, feeling awkward knowing something Marie Anderson didn’t know.
“Yes, it is. Will you be there?” the older woman asked with a shrewd look on her face. “I know I’m being nosey and it’s none of my business, but will you be around in the future? I think you might be just what Jason needs.”
Brinley didn’t know how to respond. She didn’t have the answer herself. They were playing it day by day, not looking too far ahead. The good Lord knew Brinley had feelings for Jason. Strong ones.
“I’ll be there as long as he needs me,” Brinley found herself answering. It was at least honest. Even if they weren’t romantically involved she would always want to be his friend. He’d only been in her life a few days really, but already she couldn’t imagine a life without him. “He’s done so much to help me. I want to help him too.”
Jason’s mother smiled in satisfaction so she must have liked the answer well enough. “Good then. If you want to go through I’ll bring out the meal. I know the men are probably chomping at the bit for dinner.”
Brinley felt like she’d passed some sort of test that she hadn’t been given an opportunity to study for. Or at least the first hurdle.
If she wanted a future with Jason his mother wouldn’t stand in their way.
Which was good news.
The only question now was…did Brinley want a future with Jason? Signs were pointing to yes.
Chapter Seventeen
‡
“Your parents are nice,” Brinley said as they drove away from the Anderson family home. She hadn’t been happy at first about attending their traditional Sunday dinner but his family was friendly and charming. “You and your brothers look so much alike too.”
“I guess we do look like Dad. I think my sister Leann looks like Mom. She’s working in Florida right now so that’s why she wasn’t there today.”
Damsel in Danger (Danger Incorporated Book 1) Page 11
