Finding Justice

by Rachel Brimble

  The gun shook with a slight tremor and Cat’s heart picked up speed. He was getting nervous. Mistakes were made and triggers pulled when nervous people held guns. Jay shifted beside her and Bennett snapped the gun toward him.

  “Going somewhere, Garrett?”

  “You’re not getting away with this.”

  “Oh, I think I am. The most amazing things happen in this world.”

  Cat glared. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  He grinned and icy dread slipped down Cat’s spine. The power was shifting. Bennett had every avenue covered and all she and Jay had was a bundle of money and a letter. Bennett had contacts. Lifelong friends in the force.

  Jay released a low growl. “It’s over when one of us is dead, Bennett. Whether it’s me or you.”

  Bennett laughed, the gleam in his eyes shining brighter. “Ah, Jay Garrett, the hero. The ex-junkie turned cop fucker.”

  Jay was out of Cat’s grasp before she could react. “Jay, no! Don’t.”

  He charged at Bennett and clamped his arms around his target’s waist, bringing him down hard onto the sand. Cat’s mind whirled as her body froze. The gun. He had a gun. Bennett’s roar reverberated around them and Cat’s heart leaped into her throat. She had to do something. Jay and Bennett blurred into one as they struggled for supremacy. Grunts and pants emanated. Curses and whacks of skin on skin thundered out into the quiet that just seconds before was only broken by the crashing of waves and the screeching of seagulls.

  Cat rushed forward as Bennett gained control, struggling with the gun so close to Jay’s face her blood ran cold. “No!”

  She fisted her hand into Bennett’s hair and yanked, but the mania rushing through his blood held him fast. “Get off him. I’ll kill you, Bennett. I swear to God.”

  Jay managed to release one hand and threw his fist into the side of Bennett’s face. The blow swung Bennett’s head to the side as though it were attached to rubber. The gun flew from his hand and skittered across the sand. Cat leaped after it, her heart racing.

  She picked it up and turned. Bennett’s hands were around Jay’s throat as Jay gripped him by the shoulders. Jay’s face was red, his eyes bulging.

  Peace and concentration settled over her as Cat planted her legs wide apart. She held the gun aloft. “Release him, Bennett. Right now. It’s over. I said...now.”

  Bennett turned and smiled. “Say goodbye to your boyfriend, Forrester.”

  She narrowed her eyes and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit his leg as a warning but Bennett merely flinched and continued to grip Jay’s throat, choking the life from him, seemingly oblivious. Cat’s adrenaline soared. The man was insane. She fired again, this time in his shoulder.

  Blood sprayed as Bennett toppled backward, grasping his shoulder. “You bitch. You fucking bitch.”

  Time stood still. He collapsed and Jay rolled away from him, his face and clothes spattered with blood. Cat’s gaze shifted to Bennett’s writhing form and she held the gun straight out in front of her. The horror of what he might have succeeded in doing to Jay passed through her mind in sickening slow motion. Bennett could have killed him. Could’ve taken him as he took Sarah.

  Panic threatened to erupt but then Jay’s arms were around her and she melted into him, mindless of the mess on his shirt and skin. Just him. Jay was alive and he held her. Sarah’s killer lay bleeding in the sand. Without exchanging a word, she and Jay held each other as the thump of running feet came closer and closer. Bennett’s team sprinted along the shoreline toward them.

  Cat fought the need to touch him as Jay released her and stood rigid by her side. “I’m so sorry.”

  He closed his eyes. “So you keep saying.”

  “I shouldn’t have—”

  “You’re a cop, Cat. I shouldn’t have expected any more from you. I won’t make that mistake again.”

  Tears blurred her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  * * *

  FROM THEIR VIEW ABOVE the beach, they watched Bennett being taken from the sand on a gurney and lifted into the back of an ambulance as police tape was erected around the area.

  She shivered. “I wanted to kill him.”

  “He killed Sarah. He deserved to die.”

  “That doesn’t mean I’ll sleep any better tonight, tomorrow, the next day...”

  “No, me, either.”

  The tone of his voice left no doubt in Cat’s mind he wasn’t entirely blaming Bennett for that, but her, too. She closed her eyes not knowing what to say or do to atone for the mistake she’d made. “I need to ring my boss in Reading. Harris needs to know what I’ve been up to.”

  Jay continued to stare ahead, his jaw set in a hard line. “Could he suspend you?”

  “He could. I don’t think he will. Harris is the antithesis of Bennett. He’s a good cop through to his soul. This is going to anger him so much, I’m hoping he’ll forget how Bennett’s guilt came to be revealed and how much I went against the rules.”

  “Right.”

  The silence stretched and when it was clear Jay wasn’t going to say anymore, Cat pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed Inspector Harris’s number. He picked up on the third ring.

  “Forrester! How’s the holiday? Hope you’ve been eating a load of crap that’s gonna put some weight on you, my girl.”

  “Of course, sir, among other things.”

  He laughed. “I’m sure I don’t need to know about the other things. You’re far too young and work far too hard. I don’t want to think about what you get up to when you’re away from this place.”

  “You might want to know about this.”

  There was a long silence and then he cleared his throat. “Why do I get the feeling I need to sit down?”

  She closed her eyes. “Are you sitting down?”

  A barrage of scuffling, squeaking and paper shuffling came across the line. She had no idea where to start but knew it wouldn’t matter because when she finished, there was still a chance Harris would take her badge for not letting him know what was going on sooner.

  “Right. I’m sitting. What’s this all about?”

  Cat started the story from the beginning, from Jay’s phone call two weeks before until then. By the time she told him about the money being found with Sarah’s letter, Harris had sworn enough times to turn the air blue. Cat closed her eyes as his harried breathing reverberated in her ear.

  “Now this Bennett is in hospital? You shot him? Holy Mother of God. You’re supposed to be on holiday. What the hell were you thinking? No, don’t answer that. Clearly you didn’t think.”

  “Sir—”

  “No. No, sir. If you had any respect for the word sir you would have asked my permission to go there and be made an official part of the investigation. Why the sneaking around? Why the pretense?”

  Cat snapped her eyes open and defensiveness prickled along her skin. “Because of this, that’s why. Because I didn’t know anything for sure and I didn’t want it to be official. People are often reluctant to talk to us, sir. You know that. But they might talk to a girl who came to the Cove year after year and lost her dear friend to a faceless killer.”

  “You’re skating on very thin ice, Forrester.”

  She turned. Jay watched her, his brow furrowed. She shook her head.

  “Sir, I’m sorry, but none of this has been easy. I did what I thought was best considering the police were keeping the drug connection under wraps. Little did I know Bennett was orchestrating the entire t
hing like a damn puppet master. He wanted Jay framed and he didn’t give a crap how he did it.”

  “That’s neither here nor there. If this...Bennett or whatever his name is, wanted your friend dead, he could’ve killed you, too.”

  “That was a risk I had to take, sir.”

  Silence.

  “Did you suspect his involvement from the beginning?”

  “No.” Guilt burned like acid in her stomach as she glanced at Jay. “But very soon after I arrived, I ascertained the killer was local. I knew once I found out who Sarah had a relationship with I would most likely find the killer.”

  When he didn’t say anything, Cat took a deep breath. “When I knew about the money, I thought in all probability the killer was still here.”

  Cat crossed her fingers and pressed them against her forehead. “So what happens next? Am I under investigation? Suspension?”

  “You must have wanted Bennett’s balls in a freaking vise.”

  Cat smiled. “Something like that. He played me. He let me believe he cared about Sarah. That he was doing everything he could to find her killer. Yes, I wanted his balls in a vise and I wanted to be the one turning the handle.”

  “As much as I understand that, there’s one thing that concerns me. One thing you’re going to have to prove before this goes public.”

  “Sir?”

  “Why the bloody hell did you believe a drug lord told the damn truth? You’ve got to give me more than this. I’m not willing to go to Internal Affairs or anywhere until I know we can make what you did comprehensible. If you were wrong—”

  “I wasn’t wrong, sir. It was him. He wanted me close for a reason. He wanted to see where I was going, who I was with, who I talked to. He was one step ahead the entire time. I saw it in Kyle Jordon’s eyes, too. He wanted Bennett caught as much as I did. I trusted my instinct. Usually that’s enough for you.”

  “This is entirely different and you damn well know it.”

  Angry heat pinched her cheeks and Cat tightened her hand around the phone. “He was guilty, sir. He killed my best friend.” And lost me the love of my life. “And he’s been laughing about it behind my back the entire time I’ve been here. He knew I was coming and he waited.”

  Another pause. Cat’s stomach knotted with fear Harris would order her back to Reading before she’d had time to explain to Jay why she’d had to ask him again if he’d killed Sarah. Why she had to hear him say it under the worst pressure possible. A pointed gun. Time passed, and with it the chance of her anticipated future with Jay.

  Harris cleared his throat. “Right. This is what’s going to happen. You get a statement from this Kyle Jordon. A statement we can use in court. If you can’t get me that, I cannot see how I can put my career and yours on the line because you had a feeling about him. It’s not enough, and if you don’t know that, I haven’t taught you a damn thing.”

  Cat released her held breath and met Jay’s eyes, a tentative smile pulling at her lips. “Fine. I’ll get the statement. Not a problem.”

  Harris was right. She would have little more than suspicion and Kyle’s finger-pointing to back her up when the enquiry came. And it would come.

  “We also have Sarah’s letter, sir. She named Bennett as her killer.”

  “That’s not proof.”

  “She expected me to find it and named him. If I hadn’t found it, whoever did find it would figure out they found money connected to a murder and hopefully hand it in. If Bennett was the one to find it—”

  “He was home free.”

  “Yes, but that was a risk she was willing to take.”

  Cat squeezed her eyes shut and waited. At last Harris exhaled heavily.

  “Just get this Jordon to give a statement and we’ll take it from there.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You have until this afternoon to call in with a status.”

  She looked at Jay and gave a thumbs-up. He turned away and Cat’s heart sank. With Harris’s backing, a weight should’ve lifted. He was a good inspector and she hadn’t enjoyed conducting the investigation without his knowledge. Everything should now be slipping into place. She stared at Jay’s turned back and fought the urge to cry.

  “Forrester?”

  Cat snapped to attention. “Yes, sir?”

  “Don’t go doing anything else that’s going to get you killed. You hear me?”

  “Absolutely.”

  He grunted and the line went dead.

  Cat gripped the phone. “He’s on my side, Jay. It’s going to be all right.”

  He huffed out a laugh. “Funny, I don’t think anything will be all right ever again.”

  Cat opened her mouth and then shut it as Jay walked away and didn’t look back.

  * * *

  CAT STARED AT THE CEILING of Jay’s guest bedroom, her tears now dry and itchy on her cheeks. Morning had broken, and with it any hope of Jay leaving his room and seeking her out in the night was gone. He didn’t want her, didn’t trust her and she couldn’t blame him. She had no right to ask anything of him. Not even his friendship.

  Reaching her arm out of the bed, she slid her BlackBerry from the bedside table and reread the text Inspector Harris had sent her at midnight. Harris had set the ball rolling for the investigation into Bennett’s part in Sarah’s murder along with other things. She needed to leave the Cove today and report for duty in the morning. That was fine. There was nothing to keep her in Templeton anymore and plenty waiting at home.

  Dragging her behind out of bed, Cat whipped her robe from a chair and headed for the door. If she was leaving, she needed to speak to Jay before she left. She would not walk away leaving things as they were. It was now or never. If he rejected her explanation again, then she could go home to Harris...to her mother, knowing she had at least tried to right her awful wrong with Jay.

  She slowly walked along the landing and stopped in front of his bedroom door. After silently counting to three, she lifted her fist and rapped her knuckles on the door.

  “Come in.”

  Cat hesitated. Half of her had hoped he would be sleeping. The coward’s half. Swallowing hard, she took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

  “Jay, we need to talk...oh.”

  “What?” He glared at her from the bed. He was sitting up, ramrod straight against the pillows. His beautiful chest was bare, his gorgeous floppy brown hair disheveled and his sexy jaw grayed with shadow.

  “What are you doing? I thought you’d be sleeping.”

  “I haven’t slept all night. What do you want to talk about? Are you leaving?”

  The coldness in his voice shivered down her spine but Cat dragged her feet forward until she stood at the end of his bed and grasped the bedpost with one trembling hand. “Yes.”

  “Right.”

  His gaze bored into hers for a long moment until Cat closed her eyes, blocking out the knowing way he studied her, the spark of pain that flared in his gaze. He locked his hands behind his head.

  “Go ahead.”

  Dread dropped into her stomach. “There’s going to be an investigation. Plus, my mother needs me. Chris needs me. It’s time for me to go.”

  He continued to watch her, his silence speaking more than words ever could. The tension hummed around them, surrounding her heart and squeezing tight. “Mum’s in a really bad way. She needs the kind of help I can’t give her anymore. Chris thinks it best we get her into rehab sooner rather than later, but I have no idea
how we’ll ever get her to admit she’s in trouble.”

  “I’m coming with you.”

  She flinched. “What?”

  “I’m coming with you.” He ripped back the bed covers and brushed past her to the bureau.

  She stared at his back, her mind whirling. What was he saying? Had he forgiven her for asking about Sarah? Her gaze zoomed in on his naked butt before Cat caught herself and looked to the ceiling, her cheeks on fire. “Jay, this is ridiculous. After what I did...you can’t—”

  He continued to step into clean boxers, pulled on a pair of black jeans. “I said I wouldn’t leave you to deal with Julia alone again, and I won’t. I’m coming with you.”

  “But everything’s changed.”

  He whipped a T-shirt from one of the drawers and turned. “Not everything, Cat. You could throw a vat of hot tar in my face and I’d still care about you. Damn, I’d still love you. What’s changed is you don’t trust me. That means we’re stuck.”

  “Jay, please.” The regret in his eyes burned into her soul, the softness of his voice even more so. “I was scared. I let Bennett scare me.”

  He pulled the T-shirt over his head and stared at her for a long moment. “I know that...but it still hurt to see the suspicion, the doubt after everything we’ve been through these past few days. That doesn’t mean I won’t help Julia.”

  Pushing her guilt aside, Cat straightened her shoulders when he brushed past her. He leaned down and pulled a pair of sneakers from beneath the bed. She cleared her throat. “I won’t let you try to fix this for me, Jay. I need to prove to myself I can do this on my own. Prove that I haven’t completely let down the woman I love most in the world when she needed me.”

  He turned and pinned her to the spot with the blaze of burning frustration in his eyes. “That’s crazy. Don’t ever think that. This isn’t about you letting Julia down. This is about her grief for your father and how it manifested itself.” He shook his head. “God, if there’s one thing my addiction taught me, it’s that it’s no one else’s job to save an addict, it’s theirs.”