To Protect His Own

by Talty, Jen

  “I think Loretta had a thing for Ethan. She was always touching him. One time during dinner she was practically in his lap.”

  “Do you think my mother would have confided in her about who the real father of that baby was?”

  Horace nodded. “Delilah never seemed to notice or care how Loretta really was. I once told her what I thought during one of our long talks, but she always told me I didn’t understand the real Loretta.”

  “Any idea who my mother could have had an affair with?”

  “I really don’t have a clue,” Horace said. “I wish I had the answers you were looking for. Your mother was a really good person.”

  “Thanks for that,” Jake said. “Will you be around if we have any other questions?”

  “Absolutely.” Horace extended his hand. “I’m sorry I wasn’t much help.”

  Jake opened the office door and watched the large man slip out the back. “Does anyone know how to tell the truth?”

  “You don’t believe him?” Kenzie asked.

  “Actually, him I believe. What I don’t get is why the hell would Loretta lie because it doesn’t make sense my mother would.”

  “Nothing makes sense.”

  With his back against the wall, he planted his hands on Kenzie’s hips, pressing her body against his. “You make sense,” he whispered.

  “I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

  “I want to throw you over my shoulder, toss you in my truck, and drive you to my cabin in the Adirondacks where we can hide away.”

  Her fingers glided across his scalp, immediately easing the growing tension. “I just might let you do that.”

  “After this is over, consider it a date,” he said. “Let’s go pay a surprise visit to Loretta Johnson.”

  Chapter 16

  “THAT’S CRAZY,” Kenzie said as she scrolled through text messages from Frank on Jake’s phone while he navigated through the side streets of Bolton Landing. “Timothy Overton changed his name right before we hired him.”

  “What did his name used to be?”

  “Glick. Timothy Glick.”

  “Why does that name sound familiar?”

  “I don’t know if they are related, but Ray Glick owns, well used to own Glick Equine Feed, one of our suppliers. We stopped using them about five years ago. The quality wasn’t as good as it used to be and I didn’t like the rep. Can’t remember his name. Maybe Adam, or something,” Kenzie said as she read the next few texts that just came over. “Fuck,” she muttered. “Timothy Glick was adopted by Helen and Ray Glick five days after your mom gave birth. His birthdate matches.”

  The truck jerked to a stop in front of an older home that had seen better days. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “We did a background check and a name change would have come up in that. I’ve got the report in his file.”

  “I know,” Jake said. “I read it.”

  Kenzie handed Jake his phone. “We went through his records. He had great references from a well-known farm south of Syracuse. How could we miss this?”

  “To quote my dad, ‘money can buy a lot of things’.”

  “You think he’s our guy?”

  “It’s looking that way, but Frank will find out for sure,” Jake said, tapping his phone. “He’s on his way to question Timothy now while Josh continues to put the squeeze on the nurse.” Jake took her hand. “If Overton or Glick or whatever his name is, is my mother’s biological son, then this could be about over.”

  Her heart raced. “So do we need to go talk to Loretta?”

  “Hell yeah,” he said. “Besides wanting to know what reason she’d have to lie, I have a morbid curiosity to find out who my mother slept with.”

  “That is a bit weird,” she said. “Let’s get this over with.”

  She stood on the cracked sidewalk as a big white puffy cloud floated across the bright sun, while Jake got his weapon. “You don’t need that to talk to an old lady.”

  “It’s always with me,” Jake said. “Going to have to get used to that.”

  The baby gave her tummy a little punch. Must have been the elevated heart rate that sent her child on a wild kicking frenzy. The idea she had to get use to the gun hopefully meant that he would be sticking around permanently. And not just working up here, but living with her and their child.

  Paint peeled off the porch railing and the steps sagged under their weight. An old hanging swing chair creaked in the breeze. The house itself might be in need of a little love, but Kenzie focused on all the plants and flowers that were arranged on the porch and in beautiful windowsill boxes.

  Jake rang the bell and they waited in silence for less than a minute before Loretta pulled open the door.

  “Oh my,” Loretta said. “I didn’t expect to see you two at my front door.”

  “Just a few more questions for you,” Jake said. “Mind if we come in?”

  “I guess not.” Loretta pulled back the door. “I’ll pour you some ice tea.”

  “We won’t be here that long,” Jake said.

  Kenzie followed Loretta through the family room, doing her best to take short choppy breaths. She wondered if the woman doused her entire house in cheap perfume.

  “Please. Sit.” Loretta waved to the floral pattern sofa.

  “Why did you lie to us earlier?” Jake stood in the middle of the room, arms folded across his chest.

  Loretta stopped, then slowly turned. “What did I lie about?”

  “Horace didn’t have an affair with my mother.”

  “That’s what your mother said.” Loretta put a hand on her hip.

  Just then, Kenzie heard a door open and close from somewhere in the back of the house. A shadow moved across the opening to the kitchen.

  “Loretta, honey, where are you? I’ve got…well, shit.”

  “Ray?” Kenzie blinked. Years of dealing with Glick Equine Feed and Ray rolled around in her brain. The fights over bad feed, refunds, and the way she had to constantly threaten Ray with legal action had led up to her replacing them as a supplier. It had been one of the toughest changes she had to make simply because Ray had made it impossible with his anger.

  “He’s my husband,” Loretta said. “Whose timing sucks as usual.”

  “This is interesting,” Jake said with an amused tone that just annoyed Kenzie. “So when did you two get married?” Jake asked.

  “Two years ago,” Loretta said.

  “What do you want?” Ray asked.

  “For starters,” Jake said. “Where is your son?”

  “Hell if I know.” Ray shifted from one foot to the other. “He doesn’t live around here.”

  “Oh yes he does.” Kenzie had wanted to throttle Ray years ago and she wanted to do it now. “Somehow he managed to get a job on my farm simply by changing his name.”

  “You’re girlfriend…” Loretta pointed her long fingernail at Kenzie…“has lost her mind.”

  “I think her mind is perfectly intact.” Jake’s tone was calm. Too calm. “Tell me, Ray. How did you and your late wife hook up with the likes of Doctor Dickerson and while I know my father ended off paying your debt to the doctor for the illegal adoption, where did you get the money—”

  “Are you kidding? That mother fucking doctor milked me for years, threatening to tell everyone that my son. MY son—”

  “Shut up.” Loretta punched her husband’s arm. “You’re going to ruin everything.”

  “It's already ruined,” Ray said. “You have some nerve coming into my house.”

  “What did the doctor threaten you with?” Kenzie asked through her hand, trying to keep the perfume from making her gag.

  “What do you think?” Ray asked sarcastically. “To tell everyone that MY son was actually Delilah’s. I ended up paying that bastard thousands. Because of him I lost half my accounts and eventually had to close my company.”

  “You lost business because your feed wasn’t fit to serve a rock,” Kenzie said, digging her finger
s into the palm of her hand.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Kenzie watched Jake widened his stance, putting both hands on his hips, one right over his weapon. “Did you know that you adopted my mother’s son?”

  “Not at first,” Ray admitted. “And that’s where it gets even more interesting.”

  “I don’t follow,” Jake said.

  “You’re going to love this,” Ray said. “The boy that I adopted. Delilah’s boy? He’s actually my biological son.”

  “What the fuck?” Jake said. “How is that even possible. I dealt with you and your company when I ran the farm and other than having to talk with you on the phone, someone else made the sales calls.”

  “When I first started out, years ago,” Ray said. “I worked for someone else and I made the calls. I didn’t start my own business until my son was about ten.”

  “This is worse than a bad soap opera,” Kenzie muttered. “How the hell did you end up sleeping with Jake’s mother.”

  “Why don’t we have a seat, and I’ll tell you the story.”

  “I don't want these people in my house any longer,” Loretta spoke up.

  Ray ignored his wife. “My wife couldn’t have children. One night I saw Delilah in the village. She knew who I was back from then days her father and even Ethan tried to get her to understand the farm and the business. We had a drink. Or ten. We got drunk, actually. I shared my sorrows about not being able to have children. She shared her woes. One thing led to another. We promised never to mention it again. I loved my wife and Delilah loved you and Ethan, so easily done. I met with Lattimore about a different adoption path. I suspected maybe I could have been the father of Delilah’s baby, but put it out of my mind when I heard she lost the baby.”

  “So how did you find out Timothy was yours?” Kenzie tried to keep her voice as calm as Jake’s but instead she sounded like the wicked witch of the west.

  “I suspect that’s where Loretta comes in,” Jake said. “My mother told you about the one night stand with Ray.

  Loretta tossed her hands to the side. “You got me.”

  “Loretta came to me with her suspicions about fifteen years ago, but I didn’t want to believe it and I if it were true, I didn’t want to hurt my wife. She would have been devastated. But after she died I did a paternity test and sure enough. Timothy was all mine.”

  “So you never told my mother her child survived?”

  “No,” Ray said. “Loretta made that up.”

  “You really need to learn to shut your trap,” Loretta said.

  “What I don’t understand is why now?” Jake asked. “Why come after us now?”

  “I kept thinking about all the money I had to give to Dickerson over the years and how even the little your father gave us to raise MY son and to pay for all the bills that Dickerson had squeezed out of both us couldn’t save my company. MY son’s legacy and I realized, his true legacy was that farm. It belongs to him.”

  Kenzie breathed slowly, focusing on Jake’s profile, doing her best to ignore her rage and desire to leap across the room and strangle the two-old people with her bare hands. “So the two of you planned this whole thing, having Timothy do the dirty work? Why, Loretta? She was your best friend.”

  “Ha,” Loretta said. “Some friend. I dated Ethan first. It might have only been one date, but the moment he laid eyes on that tramp, he didn’t give me a second glance.”

  Kenzie heard a sharp click behind her. Jake must have heard it, too, because he spun on his heels, gun in hand.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a male voice said as he grabbed Kenzie by the hair, something cold slamming against her temple. The swooshing of her pulse bubbled up her throat.

  “Jake…” she managed, her voice trembling.

  “Drop your weapon and let her go,” Jake yelled. His gun pointed a little too close to her face for comfort.

  “I’m not going to do either,” Timothy said. “You shoot me, I shoot her, my dad over there shoots you. It would be a bloody mess and my step-mother doesn’t like messes.”

  A wave of nausea caused Kenzie’s vision to blur a little when she saw Ray with a shotgun pointing at Jake. She breathed in slowly through her nose, and let the air out in a long whoosh through her mouth.

  “You’re out numbered and out gunned,” Timothy said. “Put it down.”

  “I’m not ready to do that yet.” Not once did Jake turn and look at Ray and that, coupled with the metal against her temple, and the horrific fragrance, made Kenzie’s stomach churn over and go sour.

  “You’re pretty stupid,” Timothy said. “There is no way this ends well.”

  “This is true,” Jake said. “Only I’m not the stupid one.”

  Kenzie had only had one other panic attack in her life and that had been the day Daisy nearly killed Jake. “Do something,” she whispered. “Or I’m going to be sick.

  “I’m counting on it, babe.” Jake’s voice wasn’t playful. “Breathe deeply. Let the smell fill your lungs. Taste it.”

  “What?” she questioned as a crushing pain in her chest caused even shorter panty breaths.

  “I know this smell is really bothering you,” Jake said.

  “I wouldn’t try anyting funny,” Ray said. “I’m not afraid to shoot you.”

  She couldn’t believe that Jake wanted her to pretend to vomit. Or maybe he wanted her to really vomit. Either way, she wasn’t sure it would help, but the look in his eyes told her it was time to bend over and gag.

  Kenzie made gagging noises, leaning forward, hoping Jake knew what the hell he was doing.

  “Elbow, just like I taught you,” Jake whispered as he quickly pointed the gun at Ray instead of Timothy.

  She closed her eyes and nailed and Timothy in the right rib with her elbow.

  “Drop, Kenzie!” Jake said sharply.

  “Jesus Christ.” Tim let her go.

  A loud bang rang out, as her knees hit the ground, a sharp pain shoot up her thighs. A second shot echoed through the house. A couple of loud deep groans filled the room. She didn’t know who made the noises. The floor rattled when a body fell behind her with a loud thud. She tried to call out Jake’s name, but her voice was over powered by a blood curdling scream that had to have come from Loretta.

  “Don’t make me shoot an elderly woman in the back,” Jake said. “Kenzie, get the gun on the floor near your legs.”

  Thank God the groans weren’t from Jake. Kenzie wiped her mouth and looked up to see Jake standing in the middle of the room with his gun in one hand, pointed at Loretta, and the shotgun in the other hand, pointed at Ray.

  “I was just going to get something to help Tim and Ray,” Loretta said. “You shot them both.”

  Kenzie looked at the ground next to her and found the metal object. Swiftly, she took it in her hands. Timothy lay next her, holding his foot with both hands while blood trickled between his fingers. He swore under his breath between agonizing groans. Ray had fallen back on the sofa, clutching his arm, making similar sounds.

  “Both will both live. Now sit down on the sofa next to Ray,” Jake said. “Kenzie, get your phone and call Frank.”

  “I can do that…” but she didn’t have to as Frank and a few other Troopers waltzed through the front door.

  “How did you know to come here?” Jake asked.

  Frank breezed passed Kenzie, helping her to her feet before Jake took a step toward them, weapons held butt forward in his outstretched hands. Jake handed Frank the guns

  “Luke found the paper trail to Glick just as the nurse gave up the name,” Frank said. “When you didn’t answer, we pinged your phone.”

  Jake took Kenzie by the shoulders. “You hurt?”

  “No,” she muttered. “You’re sleeping on the sofa tonight.”

  “Why?”

  “You could have gotten us killed! What if that stunt of yours hadn’t worked? We’d both be dead.”

  He had the audacity to chuckle as he kissed her cheek.

  “It wasn
’t a stunt,” he said. “Tim is the dumbest criminal on the planet. The safety on his gun was locked. The only gun I was worried about was Ray’s, but he was focused on you, so once you nailed Timothy, Ray was easily disarmed.”

  “Doesn’t make me feel better.” She clasped her fingers behind his neck, resting her head on his shoulder. “Hold me,” she whispered. The last thing she wanted to do was cry, but she couldn’t stop the tears.

  His hands ran up and down her back, getting tangled in her hair. He didn’t say a word, while she sniffled in the crook of his neck, focusing on the warm outdoors his personal scent created. She heard people coming and going. Frank said something about an ambulance and reading them all their rights. She had no idea how long they stood in the middle of the family room. As soon as her tears dried up, she took a step back.

  “You’re still sleeping on the couch.”

  He laughed. “I suppose we need to test the new sofa sleeper.”

  Chapter 17

  JAKE LEANED AGAINST the stall door while slicing an apple as Boots nudged his shoulder. “Patience old man.” Jake held his hand out and the horse greedily took his treat. “So, I actually did it. I bought the ring.”

  The horse nodded as if he understood.

  “Even showed it to my dad.” Jake scratched Boots’ nose. “I’m going to ask her today. At the barbeque.” He cupped the horse’s face. “I’m coming home. For good.”

  Boots pranced on his front legs. It was good to see Boots feeling his old self again. “Be good,” Jake whispered, then gave the horse the rest of the apple. “I’ll be back in a couple of days.”

  The music and laughter from the farm barbeque filled his mind with happy memories of his childhood and promises of the future. He walked the path to the front lawn, where the smell of a roasting pig filled the air.

  He sat in one of the rockers, next to his father and nursed a beer. “The District Attorney called my boss this morning. They won’t be pressing charges against you.”

  “I think I should make a donation to a couple of children’s missions.

  “I think that’s a good idea,” Jake said as he stared at Kenzie who was on the other side of the lawn holding Stacey’s newborn baby boy.