by Curry, Edna
“First, you’ll have to prove to the judge you’re fit to be her parent,” Candi said. “Why do you want the baby, anyway? Jolene said you didn’t pay any attention to her.”
George’s face turned even redder. “That’s not true.”
“Are you calling me a liar?”
“I’m sure you believe whatever Jolene told you,” George said, backtracking. “That doesn’t make it true.”
“So, you’re calling my sister a liar.” Candi turned, strode to the door and opened it, inviting him to leave.
“This isn’t over. You’ll hear from my lawyer,” George declared and stomped out.
Luke followed him and closed the door.
“Aren’t you going to keep an eye on him?” Candi whispered, slanting a glance toward her mother who’d been staring at them openmouthed through the heated exchange. She’d remained silent as if she were in shock.
“Bill will do that. I’m sure he already has the vehicle info.”
Amanda reappeared from the bedroom hallway. “I heard. What an awful man. I stayed out of sight with Jessie in case he’d try to take her.”
“Thanks, Gram,” Candi said.
“Jolene sure could pick ’em, couldn’t she? First Charles, the creep, then this fancy-pants gambler. I don’t trust him. He has beady eyes.”
“I didn’t like him either. You don’t think he can get custody, do you?” Maggie asked anxiously.
Luke sighed. “I’m not sure. A judge needs a good reason to deny a parent custody. If George can prove he’s Jessie’s father, is fit to be a parent and can care for her, a judge will probably let him have her.”
Candi gasped. “But that’s not what Jolene wanted!”
Maggie frowned. “How do you know, Candi? Did Jolene tell you anything about him?”
Candi nodded. “I didn’t want to worry you, Mom. I read you the note Jolene left asking me not to let George have Jessie. Later, she called me and asked me to meet her. I met her in a coffee shop at a mall. She was upset and scared. She looked very tired and drawn, too. I tried to get her to come home with me, or ask the FBI for protective custody, but she refused.” She choked back a sob. “I—I failed her when she needed help, Mom.”
Maggie hugged her. “Candi, honey, you always tried to protect her. Even when you were kids, you were always watching out for her. You can’t be your sister’s keeper.”
“If I’d only forced her to accept protection, she’d still be alive. And little Jessie would have her own mother, not a poor substitute like me.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Honey. Jolene chose you. You’ll do fine. If you tell the judge what Jolene said, won’t he pay attention to what she wanted?”
“Let’s hope so. Why does George want Jessie, anyway? He doesn’t seem like the fatherly type.”
“Ain’t that the truth?” Amanda said.
“What’s the deal on Jolene’s luggage?” Maggie asked.
Candi turned to Luke.
He shrugged and admitted, “George heard right. The Chicago police didn’t find her purse or her luggage. She had both when she checked into the motel the night before. Her room was ransacked, but the clerk was pretty sure that happened after Jolene had left.”
Candi said, “Whoever killed her might have taken her purse and luggage. Maybe she was attacked in a random robbery and it had nothing to do with George.”
“That’s possible,” Luke admitted.
Candi noticed he didn’t seem a bit happy with the idea, though. She wasn’t either.
Maggie said, “The visitation at the funeral home tonight starts at five. I think it’s time we lock the door against any more visitors and get some rest. Okay?”
“Sounds good to me. I’m exhausted,” Candi agreed.
Luke glanced at his watch. “I’ll pick you up here at a quarter to five, then?”
“Fine.” Candi said. She followed him into the hallway to the front door.
When they were out of sight of the others, Luke met her gaze. She immediately went into his arms and lifted her face for his kiss. He tasted delicious and she eagerly responded to him, needing his warmth and comfort. Finally, she pulled back a little. “I hate all this!” she said, burying her face in his neck.
Luke hugged her close. “So do I.” He glanced down the hall wondering if the others could hear. “Remember I and the other agents are here to keep an eye on things. I promise we won’t screw up this time.”
She pulled back and met his gaze. “What do you mean, ‘this time’? You said that once before.”
Damn, Luke thought. He’d run off at the mouth again. “Never mind—a long story from my past. I’ll tell you later.”
“All right.”
“Do you want to go out for a late supper after the visitation tonight?”
“It ends at eight. Is that too late?”
“That’s fine with me.” Luke gave her another quick kiss and hurried out to his rental car.
***
Leaving Agent Bill on guard duty, Luke drove back to his motel for a much needed nap. Five a.m. seemed a long time ago. Realizing he’d missed lunch, he stopped for a burger on the way.
In their room, his partner Curt was on his laptop. He reported, “Someone turned in Jolene’s purse to the Chicago PD. Found in a trash can, not far from the alley where she was killed. Cash was gone, but they found ID and personal items in it.”
“Yeah? Anything interesting?” Luke asked as he munched his burger.
“Possibly. They’re sending me a copy of a letter they found hidden in a zippered pocket. It might mean something. And a business card for some lawyer in Minneapolis.”
“Did you check out the lawyer?”
“Yes. His secretary says he’s out of town this week. She refused to say anything more, citing privacy issues. She wouldn’t even say if Jolene was a client.”
“That figures.” Luke said with a sigh.
“Ah. Here’s the letter.” Curt attached a small printer and printed out the copy for him.
Luke read it, disappointed to find only a note from Bart Lewis to his daughter, Jolene, reminding her how much he’d enjoyed her eighteenth birthday party. The last lines said, ‘Don’t forget the birthday gift I gave you and your sister. Check on it and take good care of it. It’s very important! Love, Dad.’
Luke wondered what kind of gift needed checking on and good care. A house? A dog, perhaps? If so, where was it? What had happened to it? Jolene hadn’t had any pet with her when he’d followed her from Las Vegas. He’d seen her several times at gas stations and the airport. She hadn’t had anything with her except her purse, a suitcase and the baby and its diaper bag and car seat.
He sighed and tucked the paper in his pocket. He’d ask Candi about it if he could get her alone tonight. Her father had written, ‘you and your sister’ so Candi would know what her dad had meant. In the meantime, he needed some rest.
***
Luke picked up Candi as he’d promised to go to the funeral home for the visitation.
“Mom and Grandma went on ahead. They took Jessie,” she said as he helped her into the car. Luke nodded. Bill had sent a message saying he’d keep an eye on them.
Candi wore one of her ‘professional’ suits, this one off-white with a turtle neck top. A belt cinched her narrow waist.
“I like the suit, but you’re way too covered up,” he whispered, leaning toward her and planting a quick kiss on her lips.
She smiled and her gaze circled the area nervously. “Do you think anyone is still following us?”
He shrugged. “None of the agents have spotted anyone. But that doesn’t mean they’re not there.” He closed her door, walked around the car and got behind the wheel.
“I don’t understand. If George was the one following Jolene before, he wouldn’t need to follow us now, would he? I mean, she’s dead and he’s come out in the open to tell us he’s here.”
Luke shook his head. He checked his rear-view mirror for vehicles and pulled out into tra
ffic. “George wasn’t following Jolene. We’ve confirmed George has been in Las Vegas all the time since she left him.”
“Oh,” Candi said, sounding disappointed. “But he could have hired someone else to do it.”
“Yeah, he seems like the kind of guy who would hire someone else to do the dirty work,” Luke agreed. Except, this scenario didn’t add up either. If George had Jolene followed and killed, why hadn’t he known Jolene was dead? Was he a good enough actor to fool Bill and Randy?
Candi sighed. “We may never find out. I don’t understand what the heck they want. George seemed so sure she had given us something. The only things she mentioned taking from him were money and the diamond necklace she hocked. He denied wanting those. Could they want Jessie? If so, why?”
“Maybe they want to give her back to George?” They’d thought he wanted the baby only to have a hold over Jolene, but that motive had died with her.
“It doesn’t make sense for them to keep after us if all they want is the baby,” Candi said. “He can easily do that legally without resorting to kidnapping. I don’t think he’d risk the penalty of life in prison.”
He sent her a reassuring glance. “We’re doing our best to make sure he’s locked up as a jewel thief before he can claim her.”
She nodded. “But isn’t it strange that he wouldn’t say what he wanted? I mean, if we were supposed to have it, we’d already know what it was, wouldn’t we?”
Luke shrugged. “Maybe he wasn’t sure you had it and didn’t want to reveal what it was in case you didn’t have it?”
She laughed. “In some weird way, Luke, that almost makes sense.”
“Here we are. Your mom is already here.” He nodded toward the blue Chevrolet he’d seen in her driveway earlier.
The funeral home sat in a nice residential area, with well-kept yards and lots of shrubs and flowers in bloom. A warm, humid breeze carried the mixed scents of many blossoms around them as they walked up the cement sidewalk and into the brick building.
A tripod sign with Jolene’s name stood in the hallway. They followed its directions to the correct room where a small crowd had already gathered, talking quietly in small groups. Amanda sat in an armchair off to one side with Jessie in her lap.
In lieu of Jolene in a coffin, they’d chosen an array of pictures from her life, from baby pictures on to pictures of her in high school and of her and some college friends. The pictures were displayed on a table at one end of the room, surrounded by bouquets of flowers and plants.
Candi gripped Luke’s hand as they stood to greet people she knew. Candi’s pale face was rigidly composed and she gamely tried to maintain control as she stayed beside her mother and grandmother.
He lost track of the many relatives, neighbors and friends they spoke with, all of them sympathetic. Most expressed dismay and sorrow that Jolene had died so young.
One person stood out in Luke’s mind, Charles’s mother, Jean Minell. Obviously wealthy, she was dressed to the nines in a designer suit and hairdo. Oozing attitude, she stepped forward to introduce herself, saying she’d always liked Jolene. “If she hadn’t left my Charles, she’d still be alive,” she sniffed.
Maggie froze, too shocked to reply. Jean didn’t seem to realize she’d been insensitive. “Charles was shocked when I called to tell him about this,” she went on. “He’s still living in Las Vegas and doing well.”
Luke frowned at the woman. Interesting. He doubted Charles was doing very well if he’d been freeloading off of Jolene only a year before.
Maggie and Amanda didn’t answer. George strode over to them. He’d evidently overheard Jean’s bragging remark and now said haughtily, “Charles is doing well, is he?”
Jean turned to look down her nose at George. “Yes. Who are you and how would you know? Have you even met my son?”
George laughed and Jean’s face turned red. He looked down his nose at her exactly as she had at him. “Yes, I met him. He accosted Jolene in a restaurant when I was away from our table and tried to convince her to return to him. He wanted her back to pay his rent. Luckily, I came back in time to stop that little maneuver.”
“Humph,” Jean said.
George smiled as he watched her hurry away.
A couple of Amanda’s neighbors were cooing over Jessie. One said, “Poor little orphan.”
George snapped, “She’s not an orphan. She still has a father—me.”
The women stared at him, open mouthed. Finally one of them squeaked, “You’re her father?”
Amanda sniffed and told them, “So he says. But he and Jolene weren’t married, so he still has to prove his claim to a judge.”
“Oh, dear,” the woman said, hastily backing away. She appeared scandalized at the idea of a father claiming his child when he hadn’t married its mother.
George frowned at Amanda. “Why did you tell her that? She’ll spread gossip about it all around the town.”
“You don’t like gossip? Too bad you didn’t think of that before you got an unmarried girl pregnant,” Amanda told him, her voice strident with anger.
Sensing trouble, Candi hurried over to stand beside her grandmother, putting a calming hand on her shoulder. Luke watched, ready to assist if needed, but he didn’t want to give George an excuse for a fight, especially with a baby present.
George reached out as if to take Jessie out of Gram’s lap.
“No,” Candi said, stepping between him and the baby. “Jolene told us to keep her away from you and that’s what we plan to do. At least until a judge tells us otherwise.”
“Which won’t be long,” George threatened.
“Don’t count on it. I don’t believe any family court judge will think a Las Vegas gambler will make a good father. How can you take care of her?”
“Who else will?” George countered.
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll take care of her,” Candi declared.
George snorted derisively. “Judges don’t look kindly on single women as parents, either, or elderly women. I can afford to hire full time nannies for her. Can you or your mother?”
Candi lifted her chin. “We’ll manage. My father left us some money.”
“Your father!” George’s face purpled. He looked ready to explode. Getting control of himself, he said, “Any property Bart left to Jolene now belongs to Jessie. And as her father, I will take charge of it for her. So you’d better think about handing it over.”
Candi laughed. “Jolene didn’t even own a car. She gave me her baby in a carrier and a diaper bag full of baby bottles and clothes. Big inheritance all right, don’t you think?”
“You just said Bart left her money,” George said. “That’s what I meant by Jessie’s inheritance.”
“We’ll see what the judge says, first. In the meantime, I’ll have someone do a background check to see if you’re a fit parent for my niece.”
George glanced at Luke standing beside her and backed off. “Humph,” he said. He sent them a contemptuous look and stomped out.
“What set him off?” Luke asked.
Candi shrugged, staring after George. “I don’t know. I get the feeling he thinks Bart had a lot of money. If so, what happened to it?”
Luke said, “He might be bluffing, to find out what you’d say.”
“Who can figure out a guy like him?” Amanda cuddled Jessie close, her face pale. “I don’t like him,” she whispered.
“Neither do I,” Candi hugged her grandmother. “We’ll do our best to keep Jessie away from him.”
“The worst part is George may be right,” Maggie sighed. “What if the judge thinks Jessie belongs with her father? You know, what if he believes in men’s rights? Like sort of a women’s rights backlash?”
“I’ll talk to our lawyer and show him Jolene’s letter to me. If I want to adopt her and Jolene wanted me to raise her, that should settle it, shouldn’t it? Surely a judge will consider the mother’s last wishes.”
“Consider them, yes. But he may not agree with
them.” Maggie sighed and looked lovingly down at her granddaughter. “I’m afraid if George gets custody, we’ll never see Jessie again.”
“I’ll do my best to convince the judge.” Candi looked at Luke for support. “Don’t you think I have a good chance at getting her?”
Luke shrugged and gave her a sad smile. “I have no idea, Candi. It will all depend on the judge and what his opinion of the situation is. I’m sure he’ll try to do what he thinks is best for Jessie.”
Candi nodded, blinking back tears. She wanted what was best for her niece, too. Would the judge’s opinion agree with hers?
The question sent panic through her heart.
Chapter 11
At last, most of the visitors had left and they could leave the funeral home. Both Maggie and Amanda pleaded exhaustion, saying they’d make do with a bowl of soup before going to bed. With Curt assigned to follow the two older women and Jessie home, Candi and Luke headed for the restaurant for a late supper.
Candi glanced around the large dining room. Various sized tables were draped in white linen and candles glowed in red, pebbled glass holders. The delicious scent of fresh baked bread teased her nose, making her mouth water.
Luke asked the hostess for a quiet table and she took them to a table in a corner. With the dinner hour long past, the place wasn’t busy. A waitress appeared shortly, took their orders for iced tea and seafood and left. In a minute, she returned with the tea and a basket of rolls and butter.
Candi toyed with her silverware, then took a roll and buttered it. “Do you think George really wants Jessie? Jolene told me he didn’t pay much attention to her at all.”
Luke shrugged. “Who knows? I need to tell you something else.”
Candi eyed him warily. “What?”
“When the agents questioned George in Las Vegas, he claimed Jolene blackmailed him as well as others.”
Her pulse raced with this new worry. “Jolene? Blackmail? Why? About what?”
“He didn’t say why, but insisted she did. George said he thought someone she was blackmailing killed her to make her stop.”
“But that’s crazy.”
