Jane had to smile at her mother, even three states away her mother was trying to take care of her, she loved her for it. She texted back her reply, ‘I’m good, but knowing Simone, Alex is going to need more strawberry preserves!’ She texted back the details for next week and powered down her phone for the night.
A crash sounded as he swiped his arm across the desk, sending everything crashing across the floor with a loud thud and crash as the lamp shattered on impact, throwing the room in darkness. Sinking back in his chair he ran his hands threw his greying hair, he had tried threatening the bitch off the case; he tried scaring her off the Brown case.
He grudgingly admitted she was tougher than he thought; his last threat seemed to have done nothing but piss her off. He heard through his contacts she was pushing the California PD for the report of Sam Hunter. If she gets that report, she would connect the dots back to Gina and Alice. He couldn’t let that happen, he spent too many years putting his past behind him for some little upstart bitch to drag it out in the open and make him a nothing all over again. His contact said she should get the report in the next week. He would make sure she wasn’t able to receive the report; it was time to put her out of the game. Permanently.
***
The doorbell rang and Jane heard Luke stomping down the stairs and slamming the door open, yelling, “Uncle Cole!” She turned the corner a second after she heard a grunt followed by someone hitting the floor and a high-pitched, “Lukie!” In the doorway was Cole laughing, on the floor was her son squirming under a year-in-a-half old Della as she gave him hugs and lots of sloppy, wet kisses.
“Ugh! Della, let me up!”
Jane watched him try to move his hyper cousin before she moved to help him, picking Della up and sitting her on her hip. When she saw who had her, her frown had disappeared into a happy smile, “Aun’ Janie!”
She soon was given the same treatment while Luke was flung over Cole’s shoulder as he ran them up the stairs to Luke’s room, his laughter echoing behind him. Jane looked at the still open door then at the baby on her hip and sighed, “Boys,” as she shut the door, chuckling when Della nodded in agreement.
That afternoon finds them sitting outside on Jane’s back deck, enjoying the sun and Alex’s only true culinary skill-barbequing. Peter, whose shift ended early that day, pushed his second helping of lemon chicken back and sat back, patting his full stomach.
“Alex that was some of the best grilled chicken I ever had! I didn’t know you could cook so well,” Alex blushed at the complement and ducked her head while the others snickered around napkins and hands.
“That’s because outside of the grill, Alex can’t cook to save her life,” laughed Cole. She raised her head and playfully scowled at her twin, “I might not be a chef like Aunt Jo or Jane, but at least I don’t burn my skillets up every three months. Seriously, how do you burn a cast-iron skillet?!”
Cole raised his hands up in surrender, making Della frown at her Daddy for taking her bite of chicken away.
“Hey, I know I can’t cook. Kate was the cook in the family, I’m happy if I can master the slow cooker!”
The three women laughed, it was very true despite Kate’s attempts over the years Cole couldn’t do anything other than simple meals and his biggest skill was the grill and slow cooker.
Peter stayed silent since he wasn’t much better.
Simone chuckled, making him look down the table at the tall redhead, “I’m not even going to say anything because I know what ya’ll will say.”
The other three looked at one another, and smirked, “The grease fire of 2001!” they said unison. She fake pouted at them and stood, “Fine, since ya’ll are gonna tease me, I’ll just take my plate and go in.”
Her fake pout turned into a droll look when they all handed her their empty plates as she passed the table.
Jane laughed, taking some of the plates from her, “I’m going to put these in the dishwasher, anybody ready for dessert?” Peter stood to help, taking some of the serving plates with him, “What do you have?”
She grinned, “You’re in for a treat, Mom sent one of her awesome icebox cakes with Cole.”
Luke perked up at those words, “Nana sent one of her cakes? Is it chocolate?”
Cole leaned across the table, “You have to finish your hot dog to find out.” Luke polished the last few bites off in record time, handing his now empty plate to Peter.
Simone was rinsing the plates off when the house phone rang, Jane handed her another stack of plates, “Peter could you get the cake box out of the fridge please, I’ll get that.”
She went to the cordless and answered, “Hello, Jane speaking.” Click.
She frowned, hanging up. She looked over at Peter and Simone and shrugged, “Must have been a wrong number.” She hung it up and went about putting the leftovers up and getting a stack of dessert plates down when the phone rang again. She went over and answered, “Hello, Jane speaking.” No one answered, annoyed, “Hello is there someone there?” she said.
She started to hang up when a voice came over the line, “I see you have company today. Your little boy seemed to enjoy having his uncle in town.” She felt a chill go down her spine, Peter hurried to her side when he saw her go white at the caller’s words, “Jane, are you alright?”
She was silent for a long moment before she erupted into a fury, “You listen here you sorry sonofabitch, you stay away from my home, my job and you stay the hell away from my son!” She slammed the phone down hard, jarring the table and the base sitting on it.
Alex was bringing the rest of the food and drinks in when she heard Jane’s furious reply. She walked over to her, Peter holding a shaking Jane to his chest, “Jane, what’s going on?” She looked at the pair’s concerned faces before shaking her head in defeat, “Tonight, after the kids go to bed, we need to have a family meeting.”
She looked up into Peter’s eyes, “You too, Pete.” He started to protest, before she interrupted, “You are family, Peter. Your mine and Luke’s family.” The couple failed to see the stunned looks on Alex and Simone’s faces.
Cole sat back on the sofa, looking at around the room at the rest of the occupants. He sighed, “Alright, Janie. The kids are down for the night and you brought out the hard stuff,” he gestured to the five tumblers and unopened bottle of whiskey on the coffee table, he sighed “how bad is it?”
Jane squeezed Peter’s hand briefly before she stood, laying a file folder on the table, “You know how I’ve been investigating Grammy Gina’s case?”
The three on the sofa nodded while Peter grasped her hand, rubbing soothing circles over her knuckles, steading her, “What I’m about to tell you cannot leave this house. At least not yet.”
They nodded before she continued, “I’ve been getting threats the last few weeks, and my Captain knows some of them. They are all in relation to Gina’s case. I believe the caller is a man, but the voice is always altered, so I can’t say for definite it’s a man. The letters are always on standard computer paper, typed in black ink. But each time I’ve been told more or less to drop the case.”
Cole was silent while he leaned forward and uncorked the bottle and poured them all glass. Alex, however, was not silent.
“The theory that Gina’s death was a hit…you have proof that it wasn’t.”
It was a statement, not a question, but it brought the others to start asking questions, Peter quietly asked, “This is why your gazebo was set on fire a few nights ago, he was sending you a message,” she nodded.
“Yes, I believe it was a message to me, and no-” she looked over at Alex, directing her answer, “I don’t have proof. Not yet. I do believe that Gina’s death was a hit. I do believe the other case I’ve been investigating with a similar MO, was staged to threw the police off from thinking Gina’s was anything but a home invasion gone wrong.”
She went silent, taking a bracing sip of her whiskey before she spoke of her next theory, “I also believe but have no proof that Sam
Hunter ordered the hit on Gina.”
Peter looked up at her, “Dad told me about your visit, that he told you about ol’ man Hunter’s death.”
He looked over at the other three, “Dad said he was killed in a very similar way to the other two, cause of death was stab wound to the heart.”
Alex was quickly putting things together and could see the others weren’t far behind her, “You think the killer went back and silenced Hunter, to avoid a trail back to him?”
Cole nodded, tossing back his whiskey before refilling his glass, topping off Alex and Simone as he spoke, “Makes sense if he did it. It’s been nearly thirty years; man could have made a good life for himself now. Having three murders pinned on him could see it all coming to a crash.”
Things began to click for Cole, “That’s why you had me come out early. You want me to take Luke back early and away from here while you try to finish the case.”
Her silence was all the answer he needed, he set his glass down, “I’m sending Della and Luke back to the Inn and staying here acting as protection detail,” Jane opened her mouth, he shook his head, “Don’t argue with me, Jane,” he said sharply.
Simone spoke up then, “No, you go back with the kids. I’m staying as protection detail, I’ve been here for a while and have established a routine, and it’ll be less likely to be questioned if they see me about more than you.”
Alex shook her head, “No, neither of you are doing that. You’re going back to Anderson and keep the rest of our family safe,” she looked over at a now trembling Jane.
“I applied with the department same time as Jane. My medical leave wasn’t up yet then, but I’m cleared to work,” she stood, pacing as she talked, “We’ll talk with your CO and let him know the situation and have him assign me as your partner. You know I’ve always had your back out in the field.”
Jane had to bit her lip when Alex said that; Alex no longer wanted to be in field; she was done being a cop. To go back said how much she wanted Jane safe.
Peter cleared his throat, making his presence known, but kept his eyes on his friend.
“It’s not readily talked about outside of the family, but my step-cousin is in the military,” he clarified, “Special Forces. He’s home now on medical leave right now. I’ll call him tonight and ask if he can sound out any of his old unit that are willing to act as bodyguards.”
Jane stood, “I appreciate all of you willing to help, but,” holding her hand up, quieting them, “but you are not going to put yourselves in danger for me.” She looked over at Peter, “And no bodyguards. This guy sees you all or guards, he’ll disappear back into the woodwork and this case will never be solved.”
She sighed, sinking back down on to the loveseat, “I’ve told you this so you know the situation and know to be on guard.”
She looked over at Simone and Cole, “That means no bringing in your guys to act as guards, I’ve already asked Alex to start carrying her gun again, I’m asking you two as well if you aren’t already,” both PIs chuckled, “When aren’t we always armed to the teeth?”
Simone smirked at her friend and partner, “Compliments of the military, Cole. You know that,” she scoffed, “hell I don’t even go to the shower without my gun.”
He nodded, before looking at the woman that had been his big sister his whole life, sighing, “I’m not going to be able to change your mind am I?”
She shook her head; he smiled sadly, “I didn’t think so.” He set his glass back down, having enough for the night. “Then I want you all,” he looked at them, including Peter in his gaze, “you too Pete. Jane said your family. Well, you’re gonna have to humor our more excessive protective instincts.”
He smirked at the younger man, “Side effect of having ex-military and cops for family.”
He got back on track, “Anyhow, Sim, go up to my room please and get the black case out of my bag,” she nodded and went upstairs, returning shortly with the mentioned metal case.
“I want you all to start carrying these,” he opened the case to reveal women and men’s watches nestled inside.
“These are compliments of an old friend of ours,” he gestured between him and Simone.
“He sent them to me a few weeks ago; they have various tracking devices, GPS and alarms. They are watches, but also so much more.”
He pointed to the side button, “You press this and a silent alarm goes off, alerting police you need assistance.” He pulled up his shirt sleeve, showing a black and gold watch on his wrist.
“Simone and me,” he gestured to her own silver wristwatch displayed, “We’ve been trying them out and had been planning on asking him to make us a set for you all to wear all the time.”
He set them down on the table, “Mom, Aunt Jo and Red are all wearing them and he’s making some special ones for the kids, he should have them ready in a couple of weeks.”
They all took a watch from the box, setting their own to the side. He might not like that Jane wouldn’t accept protection from any of them, or that neither Alex or Simone were leaving therefore being placed in the same danger. And he for sure didn’t like that Jane had another man in her life to lean on, but he promised himself something that night.
While Luke was with him for the camping trip, he wasn’t going to let that boy out of his sight and he would protect him with his own life.
***
The morning Cole left dawned clear and bright. Jane hated to send her son away, but for his own protection she was going to. Luke left that morning, happily chatting with his uncle about the trip he was leaving for, kissed his mother and aunts bye and to Jane and Peter’s surprise, hugged Peter goodbye.
It was now the first morning after Cole and he left for the camp site, he called to say he had already met with Aunt Rose to drop off Della before they headed out.
As she sat in Alex’s home office, she couldn’t stand to be at her empty house right now, she looked threw her emails while Alex was working on a sketch. She had another hour before she had to be on the road to Fulton to meet with Gina’s sister, their great-great aunt.
She had finally gotten back the phone records for Gina’s house phone and saw a week before she died, she called her sister. Normally this wouldn’t be big, but she had been told Gina had been estranged from her family after marrying Eli. She finally tracked the woman down and was to go out to meet her today to talk and hopefully, shed a little more light on the case.
But as she saw her emails, she felt her day suddenly go crappy. “You got to be kidding me?” she growled at the laptop screen. Alex looked up from her desk and saw Jane glaring at her computer screen, “What’s wrong?”
She looked up and sighed, “You know how I found the phone records from Gina’s house?”
Alex leaned back in her desk chair, her legs crossed up on the desk, “Yeah, didn’t you say she had contacted her sister a week before she died?”
She nodded, “Yeah, the sister I might add that she had been estranged from since before our grandfather was born, well I finally located Tamara LittleFire.”
She looked up, her eyes bright, “She’s finally agreed to meet with me to discuss Gina.”
Her eyes dimmed and she went back to looked back over her notes, “Well, I also had a break in another case I’ve been working, and Tamara is not willing to reschedule again for another time. But I have to follow-up on this case.” Alex pulled her legs down and shrugged, “I’ll go. I’m cleared to work; I’m just still on leave. I can fill in for you and do the interview for you, where’s it at?”
Jane pulled a paper out of one of the folders, reading it out loud, “It says she lives in Fulton, just outside of the Choctaw reservation.”
She pulled out a slip of paper and wrote something down before handing it to Alex, “Here’s the address. I really appreciate this, Ali.” Alex shrugged and returned Jane’s hug, “No problem, I’ll go get ready and be on the road in thirty minutes.”
A clap of thunder rumbled at that time, making Alex
frown at the rapidly soaked window, “Can I borrow your car?” Jane arched a brow, “Normally I’d say yes, but my precinct car is in the shop so I’m taking the Charger today.”
She smirked at her, “I told you to get a car for when you couldn’t take the bike out, but you wouldn’t listen.”
Alex made a face, “I wanted to do something different-”
“That and if you had only the bike you had to ride it,” interrupted Simone as she stepped into Alex’s office.
Alex grumbled, “I am thinking about maybe selling it. I always preferred to be a passenger on one than the driver.”
Jane shook her head, “You, Cole and Simone are crazy. I wouldn’t have one of those things if it was the choice to drive that or walk!”
The other two laughed at her expression before settling down, Simone turned to Alex, “I have a few things to do today, but I’ll trade you the Challenger for the Harley.” Alex shrugged, “I’m fine with that.”
She packed up her sketches, “I’ll go get ready, meet you in about thirty minutes out front.” The three women parted ways and went about getting ready for their day.
Alex came down in one of her rarely worn black pantsuits, doing up the last button on her light blue blouse as she walked past the kitchen bar. Grabbing her notepad and recorder from the counter, she ran out the door grabbing an umbrella as she went. She met a fully covered Simone by the Challenger, “I thought you weren’t afraid of a little rain,” she teased. Simone raised the visor of the helmet up, grimacing, “You know what rain does to my hair.” Alex laughed, handing her the keys the Harley, “Yeah, like you stuck your finger in an outlet.” She made a face at her, “Well, excuse me. Not all of us are born with a perfect head of hair.”
Letters to Jane (Mississippi Book 1) Page 7
