“You can’t stop me, Uncle Cal!”
“This isn’t a negotiation.”
Abbey’s face reddened. “You’re not my father!”
Her words hit the room with the force of a sonic boom and left an awkward silence in their wake. Holly turned away, pretending she hadn’t just witnessed his devastated reaction.
His voice remained gentle as he responded. “I know I’m not, sweetheart. I understand how difficult this must be for you. All I want to do is keep you safe.”
Abbey opened her mouth to say something but changed her mind and stomped off without another word. Seconds later, her bedroom door slammed shut.
Raines looked over at Holly. “She does raise a good point.”
Holly didn’t hesitate, but she kept her voice low so Abbey couldn’t overhear. “Nate killed Sherry. The only reason you doubt it now is because you can’t bear to see how hurt Abbey is. But faltering in your belief of Nate’s guilt isn’t going to help her in the long run. You know he did it.”
He ran fingers through his hair again. “What terrifies me is that she’s going to get herself killed trying to prove Nate is innocent.”
She had never seen him so fearful.
Po got up, opened the fridge, selected a beer, offered one to Holly and Raines, who both declined.
“How big is Jesse?” Raines asked him.
“He’s a lanky teenager. Five eight, five nine. About Holly’s height. Not a lot of heavy muscle, more wiry strength. The way I see Abbey handle that horse and toss the hay bales around, she’d be a challenge for him.” Po swigged his beer. “I don’t see Jesse doing something like this. He came across as a good kid.”
“A good kid who just happens to ride a dirt bike and is familiar with the trails behind the Milbourne house. No one else knew she was out tonight. Who else would be out there?” Raines turned to Holly. “I want to know everything there is to know about that kid.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Raines sat at the end of Olivia’s driveway with his cell phone pressed between his shoulder and ear. His truck idled in neutral as Holly rattled off information with the alacrity of a speed dater. “Jesse Keegan is sixteen. The kid’s been in and out of foster care most of his life, but for the last three years, he’s been living with Olivia. She’s in the process of adopting him. He was eight when his mom OD’d on heroin.”
Holly paused. Raines heard her take a deep breath before continuing. “They found him sitting next to his dead mother holding her hand. An anonymous caller reported it. There’s nothing about his father. That’s all I have right now.”
Raines thought about Melody and how she’d found her mother on the kitchen floor. Then his thoughts drifted back even further, to another overdose, and the death that changed the course of his life. He had to force himself to concentrate on what Holly was saying. He needed to focus on the present. Find out if Jesse was a threat to Abbey and neutralize it. “If Jesse didn’t grab Abbey, who did? No one else knew she was out there. Does he have a record?”
“Not that I could find,” Holly told him. “Maybe someone was watching your house.”
“But why? And who?” He sounded as frustrated as he felt. “It had to be Jesse.”
“It could have been Jamie Bell sneaking around trying to get a photo of you, or the killer returning to the Milbournes’ place.”
“What if Jesse is the killer? Jesus, Holly. If she hadn’t managed to escape. I don’t know what I’d have done. I’m going to talk to the kid. See what he’s like,” he said, disconnecting.
Staring out of the windshield at nothing, he thought about how he’d failed to keep Abbey safe. He knew most parents would punish their kid for sneaking out of the house and tampering with a crime scene, but how did you punish someone who had suffered so much? One who believed that she was righting a horrendous wrong. It wasn’t as if she’d snuck out to party. Perhaps if he’d been her father—or anyone’s father for that matter—he’d have known what to do. He sighed. Hearing her scream, he’d never felt fear like that. Her obsession to free her father had become dangerous. Somehow he had to help her accept what Nate had done before she got hurt. On top of that, he needed to catch the bastard who’d tried to grab her last night. He was determined not to fail her again.
Raines slipped his truck into gear and drove up to Olivia May’s house. He found her outside, sitting on the front steps watching geese flying south high above the mountain range. Wispy cirrus clouds drifted low through the trees, ghostlike and ethereal.
She stood, with her hands wrapped around a coffee mug and waited for him to get out of the truck. “Is something wrong, Detective?”
Her silky hair had been pulled back into a loose ponytail, and although she didn’t have any makeup on, she didn’t need it. Her lashes were long and thick, her lips the color of dusky rose.
“I need to speak with Jesse.”
She walked down the steps toward him. “Why?”
He could hear the undercurrent of concern in her voice. “Because he may know something about the case.”
“The Milbourne case?”
He nodded.
She hesitated. When she spoke, she was on the defensive. “Let me assure you that Jesse had nothing to do with what happened to Mimi Milbourne.”
“Are you aware he was at the crime scene last night?”
“Who told you that?” She sounded frosty now, but her face betrayed nothing.
“My niece.”
“Your niece?”
“Yes.”
“And how did she obtain this information?”
“She was with him.”
“They were there together?”
He nodded.
“Great. You can question your niece and leave Jesse out of it.”
He didn’t relent. “Right after Abbey left Jesse last night, someone grabbed her in the woods.”
Concern flashed across her face. “Is she okay?”
“Yes. She was able to break free and run home.”
“Who chased her?”
“That’s what I’m hoping to discuss with Jesse.”
“And your niece incriminated Jesse?”
“No, but he may know something.”
“He’s a minor.”
“I’m aware of that. He’s entitled to have someone with him when I question him.”
“Jesse is mistrustful of authority figures and may not wish to talk with you.”
“If I only questioned people who were amenable, I wouldn’t get to interview many people.”
She gave him a look of calculation. “I’m not convinced that this discussion is in his best interest.”
“All I want to do is ask him a few questions because he may have seen or heard something. That’s it.”
“You think I’m going to fall for that one?”
This wasn’t going as well as he had expected. “I can talk to him here, or we can do it down at the station.”
Olivia frowned but said nothing.
“I did mention that he was riding his dirt bike all over a crime scene last night, didn’t I?”
Olivia sighed. “Fine. But I’m staying with him, and if you even remotely accuse him of anything, I’ll call my lawyer.”
“I don’t have a problem with that.”
“He’s in the garage.”
As he followed Olivia along the gravel path to the side of the house, his eyes were drawn to the gentle sway of her hips. She wore a black, velvet sweat suit that hugged her in all the right places. Morning sun glinted off her hair, and the air around her seemed to stir as she moved through it.
Entering the garage, Raines found Jesse crouched down beside his bike tinkering with the engine. He stood up, wiped his hands on an oily rag that was stuffed in his front pocket and gave them a puzzled look before Raines saw the familiar flicker of recognition.
He appeared older than sixteen and was handsome, with unruly blond hair that fell across his forehead. His eyes were a piercing blue. Add a motorcycle into
the mix, Raines reflected, and the kid would be pretty irresistible to most teenage girls. No wonder Abbey had been running around the woods with him in the middle of the night.
“Hi, Jesse.” The tone of Olivia’s voice changed when she spoke to him. It was gentle, upbeat. “A detective wants to ask you a few questions about last night.”
Jesse’s face remained passive, revealing nothing, but his body tensed as if he was preparing to make a run for it.
“I’m Cal Raines.”
He wiped his hands with the rag again. “I know who you are.”
Raines nodded and walked up to the bike. The tires looked worn but could be a match to the set of tracks they’d found the night of the fire. “I know you were out with Abbey last night over at the Milbournes’ place.”
Jesse glanced at Olivia. Out of the corner of his eye, Raines caught her giving Jesse a reassuring smile.
The kid said nothing. His only response was to pick up a large monkey wrench and wipe it with the rag.
“Is that the first time you’ve been over there?”
He still didn’t answer.
“It’s an easy question, Jesse. Have you been to the Milbourne property before last night?”
Jesse finished wiping the wrench and placed it into the toolbox. Picking up a clean rag, he bent over the bike and began to clean the spotless engine. From that angle, Raines couldn’t see his reactions to the questions. Had he planned it that way? “Well?” He pushed him.
With a cavalier swagger, Jesse threw down his rag as if it were a gauntlet. “I ride my bike all over the place. Not easy to say whose property I’m on with all the trees.”
Raines accepted the challenge, stepped forward and added more authority to his voice. “I already know about last night. Abbey told me everything.”
Jesse’s confidence took a hit. “Everything?”
From the kid’s expression, Raines doubted that Abbey had told him everything. “Yes.”
“She told you why she was out there last night?”
“Yes.”
“It didn’t have anything to do with wanting to see me.”
“I know. Abbey told me she thinks the man who murdered Mrs. Milbourne also killed her mother, and you went to help her get the proof she needs to free her father.”
Raines heard Olivia’s intake of air. He sensed the kid was about to add something but had thought better of it and stopped himself. Raines needed to know what it was. “I’m glad she wasn’t on her own, Jesse, but something serious happened after she left you.”
“What? What do you mean after I left her?”
“Someone chased her in the woods.”
Jesse frowned in confusion. “But I left her near your house. I didn’t leave her in the woods. She wouldn’t let me take her all the way home in case you heard us, so I dropped her off near the paddocks. There wasn’t anyone around, and no one knew we were there. Is she okay?” He appeared genuinely concerned.
“She was shaken up.”
“She’s not on her own, is she?”
“No. Po’s with her. After you left Abbey, where did you go?”
“I came back here.”
“Did you use the trails or the road?”
“Both. I took a trail that led to the road.”
“Do you remember seeing anyone or a vehicle?”
Jesse considered it, then shook his head.
Raines asked, “Have you ever met anyone on the trails around here?”
“Only Abbey.”
“You didn’t follow her and grab her as a joke?”
“Screw you!”
“Jesse!” There was a hint of a warning in Olivia’s tone. “Detective Raines is only trying to protect his niece.”
Jesse’s expression changed, became less defiant, more guarded. He hunched his shoulders and shoved his hands into the already grease-stained pockets of his jeans. “Abbey trusts me. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. I went with her because I was worried she’d get into trouble.”
Raines weighed the kid’s response for a moment. It struck him as genuine. “I believe you, Jesse. Did anything else happen?”
“No.”
Although Jesse’s gaze didn’t falter, Raines caught the microexpression of the upward movement of his eyebrows. The kid was hiding something, but Raines knew it would be senseless right now to push him. “Where were you on Friday night?”
This surprised him. “Friday? I was here.”
“All night?”
“Yes.”
“Were you with Olivia?”
“Not all night. I went out for pizza.”
“What time was that?”
He shrugged. “Around nine, maybe a little earlier.”
“Where did you go?”
“Rosario’s.”
“Did you meet anyone there?”
“No.”
“What about the staff? Do you remember who served you?”
He shook his head. “I just went up to the counter and ordered a couple of slices. They have them ready to go. An older guy served me. Gray hair. Beer belly. White apron with smears of sauce on it.”
Rosario, Raines thought. “What time did you get home?”
“I’m not sure. I didn’t check. All I did was get pizza and come home.”
Raines turned to Olivia. “Did you hear him arrive home?”
Her face was unreadable. “My rooms are at the other end of the house.”
“So that’s a no?”
“That’s an ‘I don’t recall right now,’ Detective.” Her voice was flinty.
Raines turned back to Jesse. “What about after midnight? Did anyone see you?”
His body tensed. “What? Like an alibi?”
Olivia stepped forward, closer to Jesse. She placed a hand on his arm, and he relaxed. Olivia turned her gaze to Raines. “He’s answered enough questions.”
Raines knew it was over. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t take Abbey out again. I understand you were trying to help her, but it’s dangerous.” Raines kept his tone cool. “Abbey is young and impressionable, and…”
Jesse cut him off. His lip raised in a slight sneer. “I wouldn’t describe Abbey as impressionable. She seems pretty,” he paused, emphasizing the word “pretty.” He smirked at Raines’ annoyed expression, before continuing, “independent to me. In fact, I’d say she’s pretty determined to do exactly what she wants.” He emphasized the word “pretty” again and leered at Raines, clearly enjoying himself.
“Cut the attitude,” Olivia warned. “You could be in serious trouble for what you did last night.”
He didn’t apologize, but his face went blank.
As Raines and Olivia walked back to the house, she asked, “You don’t believe Jesse is involved, do you?”
“I have to protect my niece.”
“You’re searching for someone older than Jesse. You know that, don’t you? Someone planned the Milbourne murder for a long time.”
Raines nodded. “But someone grabbed Abbey last night, and the only one who knew she was out there was Jesse.” His feet crunched on the stony path.
She countered, “Your property borders the Milbournes’. Perhaps the killer returned to admire his work and Abbey bumped into him. The police have the driveway blocked and can see people coming. He could have parked on my street and cut through the woods to avoid detection.”
“It could be that.” Raines sighed. “They could get hurt, Olivia, and what scares the hell out of me is that Abbey’s not going to give up. We have to discourage them somehow.”
“I’ll do what I can,” she told him as they reached the front of the house. Olivia wrapped her arms around her waist. “I suspect neither Abbey nor Jesse told us everything.”
He nodded. The wind had picked up, blowing strands of Olivia’s hair about her face. Leaves swirled at her feet. Her lips were moist and slightly parted. She reminded him of a thunderstorm on a brutally hot summer day—hard to ignore but a welcome distraction. He imagined her standing in
the rain with her face turned up to the falling droplets as wet clothes clung to her body. He stopped himself and turned toward his truck. He didn’t have time for Olivia May. His focus needed to be on Abbey and the case.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Across town, Gabby Swinford turned the key in her home’s front door lock. She lived in a three-story, white colonial with green shutters that had seen better days. She’d come home to work on a tip a firefighter’s wife gave her about the Milbourne arson, but the lock wouldn’t budge. Tugging the handle toward her, she twisted the key so hard the metal bit into her fingers. Until the Mimi Milbourne murder, she rarely locked it. Hearing the metal finally clunk into place, she pushed it open and immediately noticed a smoky smell.
Silently cursing her husband for refusing to get the ancient furnace serviced as she’d suggested just a week earlier, she sniffed and walked towards the basement to check the pilot light. It took her a few seconds to realize that it didn’t actually smell oily like the kerosene they used for fuel. It smelled like gasoline. Rushing to the kitchen, she found smoke wafting through the crack at the bottom of the basement door.
Stunned, she just stared at it for a moment. Then she remembered the fire extinguisher she kept under the sink. She grabbed it and almost had her hand on the doorknob before thinking that opening the basement door could be a major mistake. A rush of air could stoke a fire.
Smoke swirled up around her, making her cough. Running back out of the kitchen, she headed for the front door, fumbling in her jacket for her cell phone. Out on the front lawn, she dialed 911. Frantic, she searched the windows for any sign of flames.
Gabby had grown up in the colonial. She loved every inch of it and had spent nearly every Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving of her life there. She’d learned to ride a bike in the driveway, had a blowout graduation party with a live band in the backyard, and she’d been married in the gazebo, dancing the night away under the twinkling lights her father had strung in the trees.
When her parents moved to Florida, they gave her the house so she could raise her children there. Now, as she stood waiting for help, she noticed the peeling paint on the siding and how worn the wooden porch steps were. The hedge of boxwoods bordering either side of the drive showed none of the orderly shorn neatness from her childhood. They’d grown unchecked and now resembled a spiky Mohawk.
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