Deceptive Truth: Cowboy Justice Association (Serials and Stalkers Book 4)

by Olivia Jaymes

  His father's demeanor changed completely, his body stiff and his eyes narrow and cold. This...right here. This was the real Benjamin Owens, although he didn't often reveal himself. But maybe this time he'd finally got it through his thick skull that he didn't have to put up the front anymore. Knox wasn't buying whatever it was that he was selling.

  "I'm your father. You're supposed to care about me."

  That almost made Knox laugh out loud.

  "That's hilarious coming from you. I'm your son and you're supposed to care about me. Do you? Let me ask you a question. When's my birthday, Dad? I won't even ask the day, just the month. When is it?"

  Ben had no answer, which Knox expected. Knox waved toward the house and the people who had gathered at the window to watch them talk. Could they hear? Knox didn't care if they could. He wasn't about to censure himself. His only regret was that a child might hear his curse-laden replies.

  "Why don't you concentrate on the people that still believe in you or at least want to believe in you? They want to. They've fooled themselves into thinking that you give a shit about someone else besides yourself. But you and me, we both know that it's not true. There is no one you love more in this world than yourself. You'd throw me or any of them under the bus to save your miserable hide. In a heartbeat. You wouldn't even debate about it. Just own it, Ben. I'd honestly have more respect for you if you did."

  "You take after your mother," Ben snarled, his blue eyes an icy gray color. "Stubborn and ignorant."

  "Not so charming now, are you?" Knox replied with a chuckle. "I think our five minutes have passed and even if they haven't, I've grown bored talking to you. You probably won't believe this but I do wish for you to change someday. I hope that you can because you have kids out there that could use a decent father. It's too late for me but it's not for them. They need you."

  "You're not going to lecture me about growing old and ending up alone? That's usually your favorite."

  "I'm surprised that you actually listened."

  Ben waved his finger in front of Knox's nose. "I know you, boy. You like to put on that you're perfect, but you aren't. That pretty girl in the house is going to realize that eventually."

  "I've let her know that I am about as far from perfect as one human can get. I admit that I have issues. But the difference between me and you, Ben, is that I can actually put another person before myself. I can care and feel love."

  "If you love her then you'd better let her go. You'll just mess up her life like you did your own."

  "You might want to take your own advice. I'm done with you."

  With that, Knox turned on his heel and strode back inside the house, looking for Jenna. He wanted to leave. Immediately. He had words for Randy as well but he needed to cool down before delivering them.

  Ben Owens hadn't changed. Would he ever? Probably not, but even if he did Knox had been through far too much chaos with his father to ever want a ticket on that ride ever again. He was walking away and there was no looking back, no regrets. Jenna had been right - as usual. Knox had created his own family of friends, people he trusted and had chosen. They were people he could count on with his very life if the situation called for it. He'd be there for them too.

  And maybe Jenna could be part of that created family.

  Because he'd told his father he could feel love. Love for Jenna.

  He should tell her. Would she say it back?

  26

  Knox was uncharacteristically quiet on the drive back to Tremont. His brother Randy, who Knox said was a decent guy, had been extra proud of himself at the party. He'd told Jenna that he'd managed to get Knox outside to talk to their father. Knox might like his younger brother, but in Jenna's short acquaintance she thought Randy was a douchebag for doing that.

  "He can't avoid Dad forever," Randy had said with a big proud grin on his face.

  "Actually, he can," Jenna had replied and walked away. She had much more to say but it would probably be better not to speak any more than she already had.

  She couldn't say Knox hadn't warned her about his family. He had, and she'd believed him. Honestly, he'd been kind. From the crap that she heard from his own brothers while he was out back talking to Ben Owens, she wanted to drop kick them in the balls.

  "Do you want to talk about it?"

  They were almost halfway back to the house and the silence had stretched on for longer than Jenna was comfortable with. If he didn't want to talk about it, that was fine, but she needed to make the offer. They were a team now, so his problems were her problems too.

  "Did you want to talk about my conversation with my dad or your conversation with my brother? We both probably wish we could get that wasted time back in our lives."

  "How about we start with you and your dad and work from there?"

  "Fine with me. I'll make it short. He said he'd changed and I challenged that. Then he dropped the facade and showed me that he hadn't changed a bit. I told him to pound sand. End of story. How did your meeting go? Any better than mine?"

  Jenna wasn't quite ready to move on yet. She had questions.

  "What do you mean when you say that he dropped the facade?"

  "He stopped pretending to love me and be charming and friendly. He turned cold and nasty. He said that I should break up with you so I won't ruin your life like I've ruined my own. I guess he thinks that regular employment and paying my own bills is a bad thing."

  "You weren't actually going to do that, were you?" she asked, more than a little scandalized. She might have lost Knox because his dad was a jerk. "I wouldn't have let you anyway."

  Knox threw back his head and laughed. "That's what I love about you, babe. Even if I wanted to break up - which I don't - you'd just tell me no and to go sit down and stop complaining."

  She leaned in closer to Knox, feeling the warmth of his body through the thin cotton of her blouse. "You love that about me, huh? What else do you love?"

  He looked at her then, a quick glance because he was driving, but his blue eyes had turned dark with emotion. A zip of awareness ran up her spine and she wished they were already back at the house.

  "Pretty much every damn thing about you."

  His words washed over her like waves on the beach on a hot summer's day. She was finding out that she pretty much loved every damn thing about Knox too. She wasn't mad about it. In fact, she was happy. She was falling in love with a man that she liked. What could be better?

  "Why did you talk to him?" she asked. "You could have just walked away and we would have left."

  The one thing she'd learned about Knox Owens is that he rarely did anything he didn't want to.

  "I've been asking myself that same question since we left," he confessed. "I'm more than a little ashamed to say that there was a little pinprick of hope in my mind. That eight-year-old boy inside of me that wanted to have a cool dad that loved me and spent time with me. I think that's why I did it, as pathetic as that sounds. I guess I thought that if anything would change Ben it would be a stint in prison. It didn't work, though."

  "It's not pathetic to want your parents to love you."

  "It's pathetic to still have any hope at my age. I should fucking know better by now."

  "We all have that little kid living inside of us. We all want our parents to love us."

  "Do you still want that? Do you have hope that your dad will change?"

  Good question. It was one she didn't allow herself to ponder.

  "Like you, I think that I have that small part of me, that optimistic and naive child that still believes that pots of gold were at the ends of rainbows, hopes that my father will sober up and become the person that I always wanted him to be. The vast majority of me knows that he'll never change but if he called me and said that he'd stopped drinking...yes, I'd probably give him a chance. Even after all the shit he put me through. I don't think that makes us pathetic, Knox. I think it makes us human. Humans have hope even when it doesn't always make sense."

  "You're a w
ise woman, Jenna Waters."

  "Keep going," she said with a giggle. "I love hearing effusive compliments about myself."

  "How about I think you're beautiful? Oh, and funny, even when you aren't trying to be. Now you tell me how great I am. I want some of these compliments too."

  She could sing his praises for hours but she definitely knew the item that was top of the list.

  "You're the kind of man that would help a woman find her sister even when his own brother was a suspect."

  "Aw, baby. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you."

  His phone beeped in his pocket and he retrieved it, handing it to her. "Can you read the text coming in? I don't want to pull over."

  She opened the message and her heart dropped to her stomach. Maybe this day wasn't a total loss after all.

  "It's from Eli. The request for a warrant to search Hedgcock's home was approved. It will be executed in the morning."

  Jenna dug her phone out of her purse. "That's amazing news. I'm going to call Tom and Michelle. They'll be so happy."

  Finally, progress. Things were really looking up.

  When they arrived back at the safe house, Eli was awake and rested after his long night. He was in the kitchen fixing a sandwich and was surprised to see them back so early.

  "Was the party a bust? I didn't expect you two for hours."

  "The party was indeed a bust," Knox replied with a laugh. "Or maybe I was just a big party pooper. Either way, we're home. Did you get some sleep?"

  "I did. Now I'm starved. How about you? Did you get a chance to eat at the shindig?"

  "We did not," Jenna said. "I'm starving too."

  "There's some rare roast beef and some grilled chicken," Eli said, pushing the bread closer to Jenna. "We also have chips and some fruit salad in the fridge."

  "I'm on it," Jenna said. "Knox, what do you want?"

  "You don't have to make me a sandwich. I'm not a misogynistic jerk."

  Jenna waved away his concern. "You would be a chauvinist jerk if you asked me to make you a sandwich for you alone. It's not being a jerk when I'm making one for myself. Besides, I asked you. You didn't ask me. It's okay. I'm not going to suddenly become a 1950s housewife and greet you at the door with a martini and slippers."

  The thought of Jenna doing any of that had Knox cracking up. More likely, she'd shove those slippers down his throat after a long day and drink the martini herself.

  "Then I'll have roast beef. Thank you. Next time I'll make the sandwiches."

  "You're welcome, and you will."

  "Jared wants you to give him a call when you have a chance," Eli said, dumping some chips on his plate. "He thought it would be much later this afternoon but you can probably try him now."

  "Did you talk to him?"

  "Briefly. He wanted to make sure that I was okay to stay here and back you up. If not, he could send out Ryan. He just wrapped up the case he was working on and could be on a plane tonight."

  "What did you say?"

  Eli grinned and settled at a spot at the small kitchen table. "I said I was fine either way. I'm the new guy, remember? I'm going with the flow. What about you? Would you prefer Ryan? Because I totally get it if you do. You know him better than you know me. I won't take it personally."

  It was true that Knox knew Ryan much better. They'd worked together before and they hadn't had any issues. Ryan was a good guy and a true professional. But honestly, Eli seemed to be that as well. Knox wasn't having any problems and the sooner they got to know one another the better. They'd be working together at some point in the future without a doubt.

  "Naw, I'm good. Ryan could use a few days off anyway."

  "I doubt he's going to get one," Eli said. "It sounded like Jared was hoping this warrant would wrap up this case soon. We're busy as hell."

  Knox was hoping the same thing. Although it brought up a few other questions, such as what he and Jenna were going to do once the investigation was done. She only had a short-term rental and technically, her life was on the road with political campaigns. He traveled a great deal too. Could they make this work? He sure as hell wanted to.

  Stepping out onto the back porch, Knox called Jared back.

  "I didn't expect to hear from you this early in the afternoon.

  "Let's just say that the party didn't go as planned. We left early."

  "That's too bad. I won't ask what happened, though," Jared replied, amusement in his tone. "It sounds like it wasn't at all fun. I do have some information for you about Brett Hedgcock, and also your favorite grumpy detective Mike Bauer."

  "Bauer? What do you have about him?"

  "I have an explanation as to why he hates his job. Turns out he's third generation cop. His dad, granddad, and all of his uncles were cops."

  "Sounds like he didn't have a choice. Poor bastard."

  "I dug into his background just to be thorough and he applied to art school. I don't think being a detective was his doing."

  "That explains a lot."

  "As for Brett Hedgcock...Shit, what a mess. He comes from a perfectly normal middle-class family. His dad was an accountant and his mother taught high school history. He has an older sister and a younger brother. They had a cat and a dog and his mother was on the PTA."

  "The whole suburban dream?"

  "Yes, except that Hedgcock was the weird kid in school and at home. His teachers and classmates said that he lived in a fantasy world. He was nice and a good guy but he was a little peculiar. He was described as socially awkward but sweet."

  "That sounds familiar. Did he get any treatment?"

  Knox had a strong feeling the answer was going to be no.

  "He did, but only intermittently. He was able to function most of the time. He was just different. But he went to school, got okay to decent grades, and managed to get through community college to get an accounting degree just like his dad. He's changed jobs several times, about once every eighteen months or so. From what we can tell from his finances, he's a loner who pretty much keeps to himself other than working. He doesn't have a lot of friends, doesn't go the gym, and he doesn't even go see movies. He eats takeout most of the time, watches Netflix, and reads books from the local library. He likes historical biographies the most. He doesn't date at all, although he's on a few dating sites. Doesn't seem to get past the talking stage. He does have one hobby, which is an online history club that meets once a week. He's described as a World War II history buff. Maybe he got the interest from his mom, but that seems to be his only social outlet."

  "A loner, huh?" Knox said with a sigh. "That's cliché as hell."

  "As far as we can find, he hasn't hurt anyone. There's no history of violence. Everyone describes him as nice and rather mild-mannered. Just a little out of the normal. No alarm bells. The guy doesn't even have a speeding ticket. He's a model citizen."

  "You sound like you believe that."

  "What can I say? I didn't find anything that makes me suspicious. Doesn't mean anything, though. He could be damn good at hiding it all. What did you think? You talked to him in person."

  "I thought he needed therapy," Knox replied. "He clearly doesn't like the real world. He's built up an entire fantasy around Lori that is really creepy. Even if he didn't kill her, it's not healthy. He needs to get some help. I question if he even knows what's real and what's not."

  "Search warrants are real. So if they find something, that's hard evidence. Right now, we only have the story of a very confused individual who may or may not be a violent murderer."

  "Can I ask why they're waiting until tomorrow to execute the warrant? Why aren't they going in now?"

  "They want him to be out of the house. Tomorrow morning he'll be in the office. They'll serve him there and also search his desk as well. I don't think anyone is going to tip him off about the warrant, but just in case they've got an officer watching the house tonight. If he tries to dig up the backyard, they'll go in."

  "So in the meantime, we just wait."

  Ja
red laughed. "You sound surprised. Patience is a virtue when it comes to what we do. Take this opportunity to relax a little bit. Tomorrow might get crazy. Take a rest when you can."

  It was Knox's turn to laugh. "I can't believe I'm hearing this from you. When I was your deputy, it was never time to rest or relax. You were one hundred percent go all the time."

  "I'm a hell of a lot older now," Jared explained with a chuckle. "Maybe I'm just mellowing in my old age. Either way, there's nothing you can do tonight. Take your girl to dinner or a movie. Have some fun."

  It wasn't the worst idea in the world. In fact, it just might be exactly what he and Jenna needed right now.

  A little fun. But what?

  27

  Knox was up to something. Jenna didn't know what and to be truthful, it was slightly anxiety-inducing. She'd never been a big fan of surprises and she struggled with spontaneity. In her job, she'd learned to go with it when something out of left field happened but for the most part, she liked having plans. She was definitely not the "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of woman. She was a list maker. If it wasn't written down, did it really even need doing?

  So she was on pins and needles when he led her to the vehicle, telling her that they were going out on a date. She was dressed in jeans and a red blouse plus a pair of old tennis shoes. Her hair was scraped up in a ponytail, although she'd managed to put on a face of makeup earlier in the day. He hadn't given her much of a chance to touch up except to freshen her lip gloss.

  "Maybe I should have changed. I'm not really dressed up."