Burned by Deception (The Dark Side of Springwood Book 2)

by Jennifer A. Brown

  ****

  Leslie paced the waiting room outside the lab in the hospital, when twenty minutes later Jacob reappeared, his long blue dress shirt unbuttoned, a bandage poking out from underneath where they took his blood. He stood there, re-buttoning his shirt as Leslie approached him.

  “How did it go?”

  He flashed her an angry look, making her wince. “They won’t know anything for a day. They’re supposed to call us both.”

  Leslie wet her lips. Her mouth had suddenly gone dry, despite all the coffee she’d been drinking. “Do you—want to see her?”

  He sighed, closing his eyes.

  “Jacob, she’s either your daughter or your sister. Please. Don’t take out what I did on her.”

  He bit his lip hard, before looking at her. “Does she know?”

  Leslie nodded. “Yes. She’s always known Charles’ not her real father.”

  Jacob kept his gaze averted, as he thoughtfully debated. Funny, how just days ago, he was so happy to see her. Now he couldn’t stomach looking at her.

  “I’ll see her.”

  ****

  Toby was already waiting outside the door when Dan arrived to open Cyber-Fix. He nearly slid trying to unlock the door. “Shit! I don’t even know if we have any salt for this.” Dan mused, as he opened the door and went inside, turning on the lights.

  Toby remained silent, getting rid of his coat and hanging it up in the back. Dan rubbed his hands together trying to warm them as he checked the thermostat. It read 74, but it felt like a freezer in there.

  “Damn it. Let me guess.” He smacked the thermostat a few times.

  “Something wrong?” Toby asked.

  Dan sighed in frustration. “I think the heat went out. Something told me not to bother opening today. I know the weather’s bad, but with Christmas so close…” he trailed off. “I need to call Hank.” He muttered, passing by Toby to head toward the back.

  ****

  Robin sat in the kitchen still trying to recover from witnessing Lyn’s alter for the first time in person. She heard Lyn’s voice in the other room, as she spoke on the phone, taking a message for her brother.

  She wished she could have gotten more information out of her on the Brenda Sowers case, though. Not that it would have made much difference unless she got Tammy to sign a written statement, and who knew if that would have happened. Tammy was definitely a piece of work.

  A few moments later, Lyn returned, running a hand through her already mussed hair. “What happened before I ran to answer the phone?”

  ****

  Justin apologized to Camryn and reassured her he would be there for her in no uncertain terms as she helped him get dressed. He was so tempted to give her the ring and propose then…but he knew what he needed to do.

  While Camryn got onto her own laptop, going online, he went into his sister’s bedroom, dialing Ben’s number. Getting his voicemail, he spoke at the tone. “Hi, Ben, it’s Justin. I’m definitely interested in whatever you have to offer once I get off these crutches. It turns out I have a family on the way.”

  ****

  Becky ended up having to work more tables when two other servers called in due to the weather. But it wasn’t too busy. She almost called in herself when she saw the conditions outside and slid twice going out to her car. But now she was glad she managed to get in. She officially had a date with Trent. She smiled at the thought as she picked up a tip at one of her tables.

  In her dazed state, she ran right into someone. “Oops. Excuse me.” The guy apologized. He was wearing a uniform identical to hers, and he looked familiar. Becky gazed at him until it hit her who he was.

  “Hey…you’re that chick that has a crush on Jacob, right?”

  She felt herself break into a cold sweat. “Uh…yeah.” She answered nervously. “You’re…”

  “I’m Tony. I worked on his campaign. I started working here a few days ago.” He went on, eyeing her. “I had no idea Jacob’s biggest fan worked here, though.”

  ****

  Jacob slowly followed Leslie into a room on the second floor of the hospital. He gulped upon seeing all the tubes and monitors hooked up to the waif of a girl lying in the bed. She appeared to be asleep, but Leslie walked over and gently nudged her. “Ami, there’s someone here I want you to meet.”

  Her eyes opened, and she looked from her mother directly over to Jacob. He managed a weak smile. “Hi, Ami. I’m Jacob.”

  Leslie looked at him smiling before turning back to her daughter. “He’s here to help you, sweetie.” She said, her voice cracking.

  The girl gazed at her mother then re-focused on Jacob. He gazed back at her, searching for some kind of sign that she was his daughter, but it was hard to tell.

  That’s when his cell phone rang.

  “Excuse me. I’m sorry.” He apologized to them before stepping outside the room to answer it. “Hello?”

  “Jacob, how much longer do you think you’ll be?” Robin’s voice asked on the other end. “I think you need to come back here…”

  ****

  Lyn stood at the sink washing what few dishes were in there as she listened to Robin’s conversation in the other room.

  Robin didn’t answer her question, but she really didn’t have to. From the tone of her conversation with Jacob, it sounded like Tammy had appeared to meet Robin for the first time. Lyn released a shaky sigh as she rinsed off the dishes.

  “Well, he’s on his way back.” Robin said, re-entering the kitchen.

  Lyn shut off the water faucet and turned to her, managing a smile. She couldn’t bring herself to say anything though. Robin stood there, awkwardly, with her arms folded.

  Lyn excused herself, going back into Jacob’s bedroom where she sat back on the bed, holding her head.

  ****

  Much later that evening, Jacob tried to sit back and concentrate on watching a Knights’ game being televised. All the latest events kept him from truly focusing on it and enjoying it, though. It was around midnight when the game went into overtime, and he found himself nodding off. He shut the TV off and headed toward the bathroom.

  As he returned to the front room, he blinked and winced, noticing red lights swirling on the wall. A glance out the window showed an ambulance across the street at his neighbor’s. He walked over toward the sofa, stopping when he noticed the Photo King envelope sticking out of his briefcase that was on the floor propped against the sofa. The same one that held the photos of his father with the mysterious woman.

  He sank onto the sofa, as his fatigue suddenly turned into a cold sweat. After hearing Leslie’s confession, the photos seemed to fall into place. He couldn’t believe he didn’t recognize the girl as Leslie. A woman he had slept with as well. Of course, it was hard to see faces in the photo. Just heads faced away from the camera. Two bodies intertwined with one another, just enough that you could tell what they were doing.

  Jacob seethed with anger, gripping the photos before he found himself ripping them into shreds.

  Chapter 14

  “Ahhh! Merry Christmas to me!” Dan laughed, as he slowly flexed his now sling free arm.

  Jacob smiled at his friend. “It’s good to have you back, my friend.”

  They were now only seven days away from Christmas.

  “Well, it looks like you’ve handled things very well. Me on the other hand…” Dan sighed, before continuing. “We lost heat in the shop for three days,”

  “Which couldn’t have been helped. The whole building lost heat.” Jacob interjected.

  “And I lost three customers. Good ones, too.”

  Jacob narrowed his eyes in concern as he settled on the edge of his desk. “How did that happen?”

  Dan bit his lip. “It’s Toby. He’s knowledgeable, but…”

  Jacob gazed at his friend, who seemed to be searching for words, when his phone rang. He quickly turned to answer it.

  ****

  “I really appreciate you doing this, sis.” Justin said once again a
s Lyn sat across from him at her old apartment, writing ideas down on a note pad for Camryn’s baby shower.

  “It’s no problem. It takes my mind off of a lot.” She said, scratching out something she had written. “I just hope Tammy doesn’t decide to interfere with this.”

  “I’ll handle Tammy, sis. I won’t let her ruin my baby’s shower.”

  Lyn glanced up at him. “I just wish I knew what sparked Tammy.”

  Justin took a deep breath. He thought of the mysterious photos he’d found. Did he really want to bring that up now? It was so close to Christmas. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s Christmas. Let’s not talk about Tammy, okay?”

  Lyn actually smiled in return. “Sounds good to me.”

  ****

  Jacob remained on the phone for quite a while, leaving Dan to wander outside into the lobby of City Hall. He gazed out the windows at the now melted ice. Everything was wet now, and the temperature had gone into the forties. A white Christmas had been forecasted, though.

  As he stood at the window, a woman walking by caught his eye. She was walking briskly, talking on a cell phone, but he recognized her. She was the same woman who had looked at him strangely that day at Cyber-Fix.

  He bit his lip in determination and wasted no time taking off outside.

  ****

  Allen Harrison sat at his desk staring at the photo and notes that had been found in Brian’s cubicle upon cleaning it out. His memorial had been three days ago. He had sat beside Lyn, with an arm around her, wishing it had been enough to comfort her. Surprisingly, she had stayed calm and somber throughout the ceremony.

  The autopsy had come back on Brian soon after the memorial. He had been poisoned. But if it was murder, there had been no sign of a struggle. So odds were, Brian knew the killer or at least trusted them enough to let them inside his apartment.

  The notes and photo that had been found in Brian’s desk concerned Harrison, though. Especially when the photo was of Lyn standing near the river in Mercy Park…with a devious grin on her face.

  ****

  When Jacob finally got off the phone, he didn’t immediately wonder where Dan had gone. He attended to more work on the computer.

  He and Robin had made plans to spend the weekend out of town, going to see a Christmas light show, and staying in a hotel. So far, Robin was the only one who knew about Ami…as well as what the results were of the DNA tests that were run.

  Lyn was going to be staying with Justin while planning Camryn’s baby shower. Jacob released a heavy sigh, praying everything would go smoothly for this trip. He planned to give Robin her gift then.

  A hopeful smile crossed his face as he logged out of his computer.

  ****

  Camryn got back to the apartment with grocery bags in tow an hour later. Lyn helped her bring the bags in while asking how the pregnancy was coming along.

  “I’m doing well the doctor says.” She smiled excitedly at Lyn as she started putting boxes of cereal up. Lyn shifted her feet, not knowing whether to help or not. It felt weird, considering this was her place for a few years. Now it wasn’t. She fought a tear that was trying to enter her eye.

  “So are you spending tonight here or waiting until tomorrow? I got pizza and breadsticks from the deli.” Camryn said invitingly.

  “Jacob is supposed to come by for me after work.”

  “Oh. We’ll save that for tomorrow then. It’ll be like a slumber party.”

  Lyn couldn’t help but smile at Camryn’s excitement. She just wished she could share it fully.

  ****

  Robin was talking with another client when the receptionist rang. She sighed in annoyance. “Excuse me.” She picked up the phone. “Yes?”

  “I’m terribly sorry; I know you’re with Mr. Mowery, but I wanted to tell you the editor of The Springwood Daily is here,” she went on. “He says he needs to talk to you about Jocelyn Barnes.”

  ****

  Dan ran as fast as he could to catch up with her, wincing at the minor shots of pain still in his arm. She was preparing to cross the street just a few feet ahead of him.

  “Jesus, I’m out of shape,” he panted. He and Jacob used to play basketball together all the time, but lately, since the election, there had been no time.

  That’s when his cell phone began ringing. He ignored it, continuing to hurry toward her. She had ended her cell phone conversation and finally turned, hearing Dan’s cell phone.

  She gave him a skeptical look.

  “Hi. I’m the guy from Cyber-Fix. Remember? Your little girl came into the back where I was?”

  She closed her eyes briefly before speaking. “I know who you are.”

  He gave her a perplexed look. “Have we met before?”

  She looked down and bit her lip.

  “Hey! Dan, are you ready to go?”

  They both looked up as Jacob approached them, flashing a smile at her. “Hi…” he said.

  ****

  That night, Lyn sat with one leg underneath her at one end of the sofa on her laptop. She could faintly hear her brother on the phone in another room as she checked her email.

  Her heart skipped a beat, seeing an email from her publisher. It had an attachment. The subject read: Cover Proofs.

  She gasped, quickly going in to download it. She put her hands to her mouth, gazing at it. It was her first cover, with her photo on the back, one that had been taken at an awards luncheon for the newspaper a year ago. She quickly jumped up and went over to where Jacob’s computer and printer sat, setting the laptop near it, as she tried to figure out how to connect it to her laptop. None of the cords or connectors looked right, though.

  She sighed, pulling her hair back, when she noticed something. The newspaper, folded over underneath some papers on the other side of the desk. There was an ad with Becky’s name on it. She quickly picked up the paper, looking at the piece mentioning Becky’s book signing the next day from six to eight.

  A signing she wasn’t told about.

  Lyn closed her eyes, feeling lightheaded, as she gripped the desk chair. “No,” she mumbled to herself before everything went black.

  ****

  Robin sat at her desk at home that evening, looking over what Allen Harrison had brought to her attention that day. She shook her head in pure amazement. It may have been just enough to at least delay Lyn’s case. It could also be more evidence to possibly point toward why Brian was murdered.

  The notes were information on prescriptions given to Tammy Cauley. Birth control pills. An address and phone number for Dr. Havash. All found in Brian’s desk.

  That name rang a chilling bell with Robin.

  She set the notes aside and Googled Dr. Havash. Scrolling through the results, she saw the McGregor Women’s Clinic pop up several times.

  “Bingo!”

  That was it. She quickly opened a drawer where her paper files were, pulling one out. The tab had Ashley Crawford’s name on it. Robin bit her lip.

  Ashley had been one of her first clients upon arriving in Springwood. She had been a patient at the clinic, where she’d had a miscarriage and almost died herself. The lawyer representing the clinic had been dirty, though, and Robin had ended up losing the case. She remembered being really upset about it.

  She took a deep breath, holding her head.

  She didn’t like where this was headed.

  Chapter 15

  Sarah Long went into work that evening, trying to forget about her confrontation with Dan that afternoon. She sighed, putting on her apron before heading out among the tables to get orders.

  As usual, there were a few couples in that corner booth…the same one Dan was seated at that night. She still had flashes of that night, Dan flirting with her drunkenly. She was used to it. It came with the job. Waiting tables in a small bar usually brought with it everything from flirting to nearly getting caught in the middle of bar fights.

  With Dan though, it had seemed different. There was a vulnerability and a sweetness to him,
even when he was drunk, that made him seem genuine. Until—she shook her head, trying to rid herself of the memory. She couldn’t do this now.

  She took down the orders of all four people at the table before turning around to head back to the kitchen.

  She was grateful for Jacob appearing that afternoon. She had used the interruption to glance at her watch, claim she was running late and had to go.

  A large uproar of laughter sounded from the corner, and she jumped. “Damn it!” she cursed aloud to herself.

  Everything from that night was in the past. She thought she was over it.

  Until she saw Dan that day.

  ****

  Dan forked through some microwave pasta that evening, his thoughts on running into that girl again. For some reason, Jacob scared her off. He knew she was about to talk to him.

  “I know who you are.” She had said.

  Maybe she knew him from Jacob’s campaign. That still didn’t explain her odd behavior. That expression on her face in the back at Cyber-Fix remained in his memory, haunting him. He released a heavy sigh. He had to let it go for now. Christmas was so close. He had gifts yet to wrap.

  “Tis the season to be jolly,” he muttered to himself.

  ****

  Jacob made his way into the front room an hour later, yawning, but stopping in his tracks upon seeing Lyn’s laptop on the floor. He looked around, confused.