To Protect His Own

by Talty, Jen

  “I honestly believe he’s glad everything came out. He seemed excited to sit down with the investigator, even if it incriminates him,” she said.

  “He’s got nothing to lose anymore,” Jake said. “I haven’t really come to terms with him dying, but I hear what all the doctors are telling me. I hope he can hang on until after the baby is born.”

  “I just hope it’s not with him behind bars.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” Jake said. “Not if I can help it.”

  An older woman with bright red hair gripped the railing, taking the steps one at a time. “That has to be Loretta.” Kenzie stood, waving to the woman.

  Jake stood, motioning to Kenzie to move one chair over as he pulled back the one next to him. “Ms. Johnson.”

  “Please, call me Loretta.”

  “All right,” Jake said.

  “Well, you grew up good,” Loretta said. “Last time I saw you had to have been at your mother’s funeral and you had all these wavy locks of brown hair practically down to your shoulders.” She waved her hands about her own tall stack of red hair. “Your mother never wanted to cut it. Always said you had the best hair in the world.”

  Kenzie wrinkled her nose, holding back a sneeze caused by the powerful perfume the older woman sported.

  “I think she secretly wanted a girl,” Jake said. “Once my father cut it short, it has stayed short.”

  “You turned out handsome enough.” Loretta turned her attention to Kenzie and stuck her hand out. “I don’t think I ever met you before.”

  “I was one when Mrs. Prichard died,” Kenzie said, taking the woman’s hand who had a firmer handshake than expected, but her overpowering perfume sent Kenzie’s stomach on tailspin. “I didn’t spend any time with the family until I started working on the farm when I was fourteen.” She covered her mouth and coughed.

  “So I wouldn’t have met you then.”

  “I doubt it,” Kenzie said. “I don’t remember Mrs. Prichard, but I work closely with Ethan. He’s mentioned you a time or two.”

  “That’s surprising,” Loretta said. “I wasn’t his favorite person.”

  “We found some old letters you wrote to my mother,” Jake started. His hand rubbed up and down Kenzie’s thigh. “Indicting that you thought my grandfather was—”

  “I was jealous,” Loretta waved her hand. “Your father was stealing my best friend. I didn’t like that.”

  “So those letters were you trying to break them up?” Kenzie asked.

  “Pretty much.” Loretta’s hand trembled as she lifted a glass of water to the red lips that matched her hair. “Delilah and I had plans. Big plans. Getting married prevented her from coming to New York with me.”

  “But you remained close friends,” Jake said. “I remember you coming to the farm regularly to see my mom.”

  Loretta laughed. “Of course. We were best friends. Through thick and thin. Besides, when she introduced me to her little boy, I’d never seen her so happy. She would have been miserable in the big city, just like I would have been miserable if I had stayed in this sleepy old town through the best and most active years of my life. Kind of ironic that when I finally decided to settle down and get married, I hook up with a man from this place. Go figure.”

  Kenzie swallowed. The taste of ether and fake flowers smacked the back of her throat.

  Kenzie saw a trooper car roll into the parking lot. She jutted out her chin and Jake looked over his shoulder. “Excuse me for a moment,” he said, then leaned over and whispered in Kenzie’s ear. “Just breath slowly and focus on other things. Drink some juice. Not sure what Frank and Josh want, but I suspect its important since they are waving me over. I don’t know how long I’ll be, so get whatever you can, and if you can’t take the smell, go to the bathroom.”

  Kenzie nodded, as she watched Jake jog down the steps and to the parking lot.

  “Was he whispering sweet nothings?” Loretta asked, her already wrinkled skin scrunched in a narrow gaze.

  “I have a sensitive matter we need to ask you about,” Kenzie started, ignoring the question. “Did Delilah confide in you about an affair she had?”

  Loretta’s thick, lumpy lashes flickered. “That’s what this is about?”

  Kenzie nodded. “We know she had an affair that resulted in a baby.”

  “I didn’t believe her about the affair at first,” Loretta said as she stared out across the deck toward the side parking lot. “I heard that Jake had become a police officer.”

  “State Trooper,” Kenzie corrected.

  “A shame what happened to his father,” Loretta said.

  “It is,” Kenzie said. “Do you know who Delilah had the affair with?”

  Loretta shook her head as she swiped a finger under her wrinkled eye, nearly taking it out with an extra-long fake nail. “She called me the day she died telling me that the baby was still alive.”

  “You spoke to her?”

  “She was talking crazy, adamant the baby was still alive. That she knew who he was and where he was.”

  “Who did she say the baby was?” Kenzie asked.

  Loretta shook her head. “I wouldn’t let her. I kept telling her she had to accept the baby was gone. Ethan called me the next morning with the news she’d died in a car accident. I knew then she’d taken her own life. Losing that baby killed Jake’s mother.”

  “The problem is,” Kenzie said. “The baby didn’t die.”

  Loretta gasped as she dropped her glass of water, some of the liquid rolling off the table and into her lap. “No,” she whispered.

  Quickly, Kenzie blotted down the older woman’s dress, trying to soak up the water, thankful the glass didn’t shatter, which would have brought even more attention to the two women.

  “It’s just water, dear,” Loretta said. “What makes you think the baby didn’t die?”

  “Ethan told us.”

  “I promised her I’d take the name of the father to my grave,” Loretta said. “I’ve never told anyone.”

  “We need to know,” Kenzie pleaded. “And anything else you can tell us, because whoever poisoned Ethan has been trying to kill me.” She patted her stomach. “And our baby.”

  “Oh my. I hadn’t noticed.” Loretta dropped her hands in her lap. “Horace Doherty,” she said softly. “He’s who she slept with.”

  “The same Horace that worked on the farm?”

  “That’s what Delilah told me,” Loretta said. “The day she died, she went on and on about being reunited with her baby. That the father was going to make that happen. But when I asked Horace about it after the funeral, he denied the affair and told me that I best not mention it to Ethan. That he’d been through enough between losing his baby and then his wife.”

  “So, you just believed Delilah was out of her mind,” Kenzie said. “Had some sort of mental breakdown.”

  “She wasn’t stable,” Loretta said. “Even if what you say is true, her inability to have another baby after Jake was born chipped away at her. It was hard to watch. I can’t imagine what it was like for Ethan. Then to lose a child after everything she’d been through…I think I would have a mental break-down.” Loretta picked at her fingernails. “But she didn’t lose that baby after all. Hard for me to believe. Are you sure you have all the facts?”

  “We are,” Kenzie said. “Are you sure you can’t tell us who she thought the child was or where he went?”

  Loretta shook her head. “My last words to her were to get help. That she needed help.”

  Kenzie dug through her purse, finding a pen and a small piece of paper. “If you remember anything at all, will you call us?”

  “I sure will.” Loretta took the paper. “I’m sorry I can’t be of more help.”

  “You were very helpful,” Kenzie said. “Want some breakfast?”

  Loretta shook her head. “I've lost my appetite. I think I want to go pay my best friend a visit. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to the grave.”

  “I’ll wa
lk you to your car.”

  “I appreciate it.” Loretta looped her arm through Kenzie’s. “You’re a tall one,” Loretta said. “And very pretty. Jake did good.”

  Kenzie opted not to comment. The walk to Loretta’s car was done in silence and Kenzie did her best not to breathe much. Jake eyed her suspiciously as she helped the woman into the driver seat, but he continued his conversation with Frank and Josh.

  Kenzie’s mother used to tell her that the most unexpected things could often be the greatest gifts once one opened their mind. The current events would even make her mother, the most positive person she’d ever met, think differently.

  Jake waved her over, but she took her time, breathing in scent-free are.

  “You feeling okay?”

  “She must douse herself in perfume,” she said. “I seriously thought I was going to vomit on the walk to the car.”

  “Sorry to have left you alone with her and that disgusting smell.”

  She nodded. “What are you all talking about?”

  “The snakes weren’t wild snakes,” Frank said. “They were bought in a reptile shop in Albany. Waiting for those records.”

  Kenzie immediately glanced at her feet. She shivered, half expecting to see snakes.

  “CSI team lifted prints that don’t match ours from the cabin break in,” Jake said.

  “Whose prints?”

  “We don’t know yet,” Frank said. “We also got Lattimore’s office to surrendered all his files.”

  “It will take a while to go through them,” Josh said. “We were also able to pick up the nurse who helped Dickerson. She’s all lawyered up, but the DA will cut a deal with her just to get a name, so hopefully that will happen soon.”

  “That’s good,” Kenzie said. “I found out who Delilah was sleeping with.”

  “Thatcher?” Jake cocked his head, scrunching his nose.

  She shook her head. “Horace.”

  “Horace? As in the COO before me, Horace?” Jake asked.

  She nodded.

  “I did not see that one coming,” Jake said. “Let’s go have a chat with Horace.”

  Chapter 15

  “TRUST ME,” JAKE SAID as he slipped behind his father’s desk. “Better to bring Horace here, then us going to him.”

  “I trust you,” she said, sitting down across from him. “Just you hate this office. This house. I thought you’d be more comfortable talking anywhere but here.”

  “This isn’t about my comfort, but Horace being uncomfortable,” Jake said. “I’m curious. Why do you dislike this house so much?”

  “I grew up in a trailer. This house is so big, I feel lost in it. And there has never been any privacy, even in the residency, because people are always in and out.”

  “My grandfather wanted the workers to feel like family.”

  “I get that,” she said. “But I need my privacy.”

  “That can’t be the only reason you don’t want to live here.”

  “We stood right here in this office when you confronted me, then your father. Months later, I heard you had come back and were here talking with Ethan. I raced back and your first words to me were—”

  “Leave with me now, or I’m gone forever.” He remembered the day as if it were yesterday. “You didn’t say anything for a few minutes. I assumed your silence was my answer.”

  “I hadn’t seen or heard from you in months. For all I knew you were dead. I wanted answers. I wanted an apology.”

  “I was an asshole,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

  “This house represents so many lies, betrayals, and the kind of deception that destroys people. I don’t want any part of it. Never have. Why, even as CEO, I will not live here.”

  “I can appreciate that,” he said. “I loved you very much.”

  “I loved you too.”

  He was about to tell her he still loved her, when Horace tapped on the open door.

  He’d gone nearly bald, but still sported a goatee with a long beard. At least four inches long. Only now it was more white than brown. He was a big man, towering over Jake. His biceps bulged, stretching the fabric of his dark T-shirt. Jake wouldn’t want to meet this man in a back alley.

  “It’s been a long time since I stepped foot on this farm,” Horace said. “Much less this office.”

  “Thanks for coming.” Jake rose. “Mind closing the door?”

  “How’s your father doing?” Horace asked, shutting the door behind him.

  “Doing better.” Jake escorted Kenzie to the sofa, offering one of the chairs to Horace.

  “You both look good,” Horace said. “Kenzie, are you…pregnant?”

  “I am,” she said.

  “Last time I saw you, you couldn’t have been older than eighteen?”

  Jake held Kenzie’s hand as he sat in the sofa next to her.

  Horace pointed his finger back and forth between them. “You’re the father? You two are together? Well, I’ll be damned.”

  “Stranger things have happened,” Jake said. “We met with Loretta Johnson this morning.”

  “That’s a blast from the past?” Horace fingered his beard. “I’m curious as to why you met with her, but I’m more interested in why you wanted to see me.”

  “We have a few questions about the affair you had with my mother.”

  Kenzie squeezed Jake’s hand a little too hard. He wasn’t sure if she didn’t like his directness, or if she was preparing to keep his…or her…anger in check.

  “I didn’t have an affair with your mother,” Horace said, still fingering his beard.

  “There is no point in lying,” Jake said. “My father was nearly murdered and someone is trying to kill Kenzie, so cut the shit and tell the truth.”

  “Me sleeping with Delilah is absurd for many reasons.” Horace held Jake’s gaze, unblinking. “Is that what Loretta told you?”

  “She did,” Kenzie said. “And on the day Delilah lost the baby—”

  “Your baby,” Jake interjected. “Elsie saw you right outside this office after my father shut down the house. Why?”

  “We had a big auction coming up and I needed some files. Ethan was in his office getting them for me before he locked the place down.” Horace shifted sideways, pulling out his wallet. He pulled out what looked like a picture and tossed it casually on the coffee table. “I didn’t sleep with your mother. That there is my husband.”

  Jake opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He cleared his throat while Kenzie lifted the picture.

  “He’s handsome,” Kenzie said. “How is it that no one knew or suspected you were gay?”

  Horace shrugged. “Back then I didn’t want anyone to know. I was ashamed, so I kept to myself. Delilah knew. Intuitive woman.”

  “How did she find out?” Jake asked. His mind rolling through this new information, which put them back at square one. If he believed Horace’s story.

  “I don’t know,” Horace said. “One day, down at the barn after your mother had taken you riding. You might have been two. You and that damn hair. I kept telling her to cut it. Offered to do it a few times. I thought as you got older, kids were going to tease you. Anyway, she leaned in and whispered to me that she knew and that I should stop hiding who I really was. I didn’t take her advice until I met Brad and then I decided I wanted to start over. I took a risk, quit my job, and haven’t looked back since. Well, until today.”

  “Even after you left.” Kenzie handed him the picture left. “No one ever said anything. Not a single rumor.”

  “I didn’t keep in touch and I didn’t feel the need to announce my sexuality. I simply chose to live a true life and stopped denying it.”

  Jake stood and paced in front of the desk. “Why would Loretta lie? Or did my mother lie to Loretta?”

  “Your mother wouldn’t lie about me like that,” Horace said. “She was always nice to me. She was nice to everyone. She had a big heart and some people took advantage of that. Loretta was one of those people.”

 
“How do you know that?” Jake leaned against his father’s desk. Arms folded.

  “I was worried your mother might tell someone my secret, so next time she brought you to the barn, I tried to tell her she had it all wrong. She just shook her head and told me not to worry. She wouldn’t say anything. From that point, while Nader gave you riding lessons, she and I would talk about why I didn’t want to be gay. She really helped me come to terms with it.”

  “Loretta said she spoke to my mother the day she died and that my mother didn’t believe her baby died at birth.”

  “Delilah was struggling with depression before she lost that child.”

  “She confided in you?” Kenzie asked. “Like you did with her?”

  “A little. She stopped coming down to talk with me two months before the baby was stillborn. I thought she was mad because I still refused to let anyone know I was gay. Not even my parents.” Horace glanced over his shoulder. “She did come down to the barn with you about a month before she died. She was so depressed that even watching your accomplishments with riding didn’t make her smile.” Horace scratched the side of his face. “She said something that I thought was directed at me, but maybe it meant something else?”

  “What did she say?” Jake asked as he rubbed his throbbing temples.

  “She told me that keeping a lie like mine would eventually destroy all the things you were trying to protect by telling the lie in the first place.”

  Jake glanced at Kenzie. The reality of his mother’s words tugged at his heart. “So if you didn’t sleep with my mother, who did and why did Loretta lie about it?”

  “I always thought that woman was a bitch,” Horace said. “Never trusted her and didn’t think she was a good friend to Delilah.”

  “Why?” Jake asked.

  “Part of it just a feeling I got when she’d come to the farm and hang on Delilah’s arm. And the stories she told every year at the farm barbeque never painted a positive picture of Delilah, or your father. I thought she was a wannabee and was jealous.”

  “My father says he never liked Loretta much, but tolerated her for my mother’s sake.”