Destiny's Dream

by Jen Talty

  “The counterfeit money,” Mason said. “Okay. So, all that makes sense, but what about what’s happening with my tenant. How does she play into this?”

  “Yesterday, Trip was seen leaving a convenience store with a box of Ho Hos. I suspect he’s the one screwing with Destiny. Maybe he’s trying to keep all the focus on the kid, thinking we wouldn’t find the body,” Sally said.

  Mason wasn’t sure how to file this brand-new information. On the one hand, knowing who was behind all the pranks did give him a little peace of mind, but Trip was far more dangerous than Jake.

  “There is too much conjecture.” Blaine pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m still not seeing the motivation for Trip to be messing with Destiny.”

  “Destiny helps Jake get busted on the same day Trip’s stepdaughter and wife leave him.” Mason shoved his hands in his pockets and stared across the lake at the Babcock residence. “Trip is being watched by Sally and the FBI because of his dealings with this George Charleston guy.”

  “And George’s lawyer is staying at a fancy hotel about fifty miles from town.” Sally waved her finger. “I’m sharing information because I want you in the loop, but officially, I need you to back off and let my office handle this.”

  “You want me to sit on the sidelines when a buddy of mine’s son was just murdered and dumped in my backyard?” Blaine asked with a dark tone. Blaine didn’t have much of a temper, but when someone pushed his buttons, he fought back, and one thing he hated was being told not to investigate.

  “You can investigate all you want as long as you stay clear of Trip, Rivers, and Charleston if he shows his face. If you find something, we’ll look into it,” Sally said.

  “And if we find proof that Trip killed that boy?” Mason swiped a single tear from his right eye. Angie was going to be devastated, and he dreaded making that house call.

  “You bring it to me,” Sally said. “I know this is difficult, but if we pull the trigger too soon, Charleston walks, and we’ve put too much time into nailing that asshole.”

  Mason knew the drill, and he knew his hands were tied. He glanced over his shoulder. The paramedics were putting the body into the ambulance. The medical examiner waved toward Sally.

  “They are taking the body to the morgue. We’re going to need to bring the mother in to identify the body.”

  “We’ll go get her.” Blaine slapped Mason on the back, giving him a good nudge away from Sally.

  They walked in silence until they got to Blaine’s truck. Mason slipped into the passenger seat. “Angie has been through so much. This could break her.”

  “I can’t believe that kid got in over his head so fast.” Blaine had a big heart, and he’d given Jake many chances, as he did with all the youth in Thief Lake. He smacked the steering wheel with his fist. “I promised Angie I’d protect him.”

  “We all did,” Mason said.

  “I shouldn’t have let Kaylee fire him.”

  “That wouldn’t have changed anything but maybe put your family in danger. Trip is bad news, and from what I’ve read on this George dude, he’s bigger bad news.”

  “Jake was just a fucking kid.”

  There was no way to get Blaine off the blame game. Hell, Mason was right there with him. Maybe if he hadn’t let Jake run off while he attended to Rhonda behind the diner. Or let him off with a warning a couple of times when he caught him with booze. Maybe if he had taken him into the town jail instead of driving him home, Jake wouldn’t be dead.

  He could do that all day long, but it wouldn’t change the fact that Jake got mixed up in some major shit, and neither Blaine nor Mason knew anything about it.

  And that just made Mason feel worse.

  “I don’t believe Sally is being totally honest with us,” Mason said.

  “I know she’s not, but what are we going to do? They’ve got bigger fish to fry, and we are at their mercy,” Blaine said. “But I’m not going to tell you, or anyone else working for me, to back off. If Trip speeds, he’s getting a ticket. If he jaywalks. Ticket. If I can find one thing to bring him in, I will. Fuck Sally.”

  Wow. That wasn’t like Blaine to go off on the FBI. He’d been so grateful for what they’d done for his wife that this seemed out of character.

  But Mason wasn’t going to fuck with that, because he’d like nothing more than five minutes alone with Trip. Mason had learned some interrogation techniques in the military and not a single one included torture, but they did make a guilty subject sweat.

  “I served in the military with the medical examiner’s assistant. Shall I call in a few favors and have them keep us in the loop, since we both know Sally will try to put the kibosh on that?”

  “Do it,” Blaine said with authority. “Do you need to check in with Destiny?”

  “No. I’ve got Toby watching the house.” Mason figured letting Blaine change the subject would do them both some good since they were only minutes from Angie’s place. “But don’t tell her that.”

  “Not a good way to start a relationship.”

  “We’re not even dating. She’s coming off a bad relationship and isn’t ready, and we both know where my head’s at, but I can’t seem to keep my hands to myself.”

  Blaine glanced in his direction with an arched brow. “What’s the real problem?”

  “She’s keeping something from me.”

  “Not all women lie.”

  If Mason really wanted to push Blaine’s buttons, he’d remind him of his beautiful wife and all her lies when she first came back to town, but that wouldn’t get him anywhere. “Perhaps not, but until I know more, I feel like I need to back off a little.”

  “Then it makes total sense she’s in your bed with your dog,” Blaine said with a sarcastic laugh.

  They pulled onto Angie’s street, and silence filled the inside of the vehicle. A sense of dread and sadness filled Mason’s heart. He tried to push aside all the reasons he blamed himself for Jake’s murder. That wouldn’t bring his killer to justice.

  9

  The sun had yet to brighten the morning sky when Mason stuck his key into the back door of his house. He tried to be as quiet as possible, but he knew it was just early enough that any noise would wake the beast.

  He glanced at his feet, and his heart dropped to the pit of his stomach.

  A single unwrapped Ho Ho package had been placed off to the side. Carefully, he picked it up and read the words someone had scribbled on it with a black marker.

  Is that really you, Heidi Ho Ho?

  Who the fuck was Heidi Ho Ho?

  Destiny?

  That didn’t really make sense. He’d Googled Destiny, and so far, everything she’d told him had been proven. Sure, sometimes the internet didn’t give you the right information, but he’d seen a couple of pictures of her with her uncle and the article about her parents.

  The sound of paws dancing down the stairs caught his attention. “Come on, Coop,” he whispered, hoping Destiny was still asleep.

  The dog picked up his pace. Mason gave him a good hug before taking him outside to let him run wild while he put the treat wrapper into a bag and then into his glove box. He had no intention of telling Destiny about it, yet. Not until he had it dusted for prints. Hopefully, they’d be able to get the results back quickly on both the box that was delivered yesterday as well as the surprise left on his porch.

  “Hey, you,” Destiny’s sweet voice hit his eardrums like a wave crashing into the shore. It was sweet like honey, and it made him feel alive.

  “You’re up early.” He slammed his truck door, making sure to lock it. “Did you sleep all right?”

  She stood next to the back door wearing one of his button-down shirts, and he couldn’t tell if she had anything on under it.

  He swallowed. Hard.

  “Other than your dog takes up most of the bed and he went nuts for no reason about an hour ago, I slept well enough.”

  Toby had sent him a text that he would be leaving about an hour ago, so whoever
left the stupid Hostess wrapper had done so recently.

  And that meant they could have been watching the house.

  “Did you let him out then?” Coop had run around the yard twice before trotting back inside.

  “I did,” Destiny said, holding a coffee mug. “But I kept him on a leash. I didn’t want him taking off on me.”

  “How’d that go?” He took the mug with one hand and rested his hand on her backside, escorting her back into his kitchen.

  “Not well, which is why I’m wearing your shirt. He pulled me right into the ground as he headed toward the front yard. And he was barking like crazy, but his tail was wagging just as wildly. He didn’t seem to be threatened by anything.”

  Coop probably saw Toby leave.

  “Did you go out the front door? Or the back?”

  “He had his paws on the front door, so we went out that way.”

  Mason sat down at the table and rubbed his temples. He didn’t have to work today, but Blaine had his daughter’s birthday and even though a dark cloud hung over the town, cancelling on a three-year-old wasn’t the right thing to do.

  No one could bring Jake back.

  No one could ease Angie’s pain.

  He swiped at his face. His eyes were dry from crying like a baby in the bathroom at the morgue after standing next to Angie while she identified her son’s body.

  “What’s wrong?” Destiny pulled out the chair next to him and squeezed his shoulder.

  Her touch was so tender that his scratchy eyes nearly watered.

  “What happened last night?” she asked.

  He might as well tell her since the entire town would know with the morning news. “Jake’s dead,” he said flatly.

  “What?” She slammed her mug on the table. The coffee splashed across the surface. “How? When?”

  Mason snagged a couple of paper towels and cleaned up the mess before pouring her another cup of coffee.

  “Are you going to answer me?”

  He shifted his chair and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ears. Her eyes were as wide as a deer in headlights. Her complexion had paled. When he took her hand in his, it trembled. “He’s been dead for a couple of days.”

  She tilted her head and gasped.

  “He was shot.”

  “Murdered,” she mumbled. “And if it’s been a few days, that means he wasn’t the one fucking with me, right?”

  Mason nodded. “We believe that would be Trip.”

  “I don’t know a Trip. Why would he be…be…dropping wrappers in my yard?”

  “I’m going to trust you with some information. But if it got out, I’d lose my job.”

  “I won’t tell anyone. Swear.” She let out a short breath before sucking in a deep one, expanding her chest.

  That only aided in distracting him.

  “Am I in danger?”

  He cleared his throat, tearing his gaze from her tight body. “I honestly don’t know, but I’ve got people keeping an eye on you.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Was someone watching me last night?”

  No point in lying. “Yes. I think when Toby left, that’s why Coop went nuts.”

  “I guess I understand why.”

  He held both her hands, rubbing his thumbs over her soft skin. He couldn’t deny she affected him on the most primal level. But she also made him want to care for someone again. He wanted someone to hold at night. Someone who would understand his job and all that came with it, and even though he knew she wasn’t being honest with him about something, he knew without a doubt, she got him and his career.

  “My job is to keep you safe,” he said.

  “You’ve certainly gone above and beyond the call of duty there.” Her lashes fluttered over her riveting blue eyes. “Please tell me what you can.”

  “The FBI has an ongoing case that involves Trip. They need more time to gather evidence and that has tied mine and Blaine’s hands on what we can and can’t do when it comes to bringing Trip in. Blaine and I suspect that Trip was messing with you because you managed to get Jake busted, and that somehow affected his overall game plan. But we also think he did so to keep us believing Jake was alive and off his trail for whatever he might be involved in.”

  “So, what is this Trip guy involved in?”

  “I don’t have all the details. The Feds are keeping a few things from us. But I will tell you that he’s the little fish leading them to the big fish, so they don’t want us fucking with him.”

  She stood, knocking over her chair. “So, what you’re telling me is that even if you catch him harassing me, you can’t do anything?”

  “Calm down.” He wrapped his fingers around her biceps and massaged gently. “If I catch him on my property doing anything remotely suspicious, I have my boss’ permission to nail the bastard regardless of what the Feds say.”

  “I’m not sure that makes me feel better.” She blew out a puff of air, which pushed a small section of her hair out of her face. “What if I’m walking down the street and—”

  “Listen. Coop can stay with you during the day, and at night, you can stay here with me. On the few nights that I have to do a night shift, I’ll have my buddy Toby keep an eye on things when he can, and I’ll do a drive-by as often as possible. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

  She shrugged off his hands and folded her arms defiantly across her chest. “You can’t promise that, and you know it.”

  “You have nothing to do with what happened. Trip isn’t going to hurt you.”

  “Really?” She lowered her chin and glared at him like his mother used to when he’d been caught telling a lie.

  He cringed. That look always made him cower into a corner like a scared puppy.

  “Because he killed Jake. That means he’s capable of doing it again,” she said.

  He opened his mouth but realized she had a good point.

  “What’s Trip involved in?”

  Based on the angry energy floating in the air, Mason decided it was best to be relatively honest. “We believe the business he’s working at is laundering money.”

  “Money laundering usually means organized crime. Wonderful,” she mumbled. “I don’t need this shit in my life. I moved to a small town to have a quiet life.” She planted her hands on her hips and paced in front of the table. “I left my old life to get away from the insanity of things like this.”

  “Your old life?” He stepped in her path and tilted her chin with his forefinger and thumb. “What does that mean?”

  “My ex-boyfriend. Let’s just say he wasn’t one of the good guys,” she said behind a tight jaw.

  “You told me you and he had no issues with each other. That it was basically a clean break.”

  “Breakups are never clean,” she muttered.

  “Was he a bad guy? Criminal?” Mason kept his own irritation in check. At least now he knew what she’d been keeping from him.

  “He had a gambling problem, and he nearly destroyed my life. Moving here was my chance to rebuild it, but now? I don’t think that’s possible. At least I haven’t gotten too established here.”

  “What the hell are you talking about? There is no reason for you to uproot your life because of Trip. If Blaine and I don’t nail him, the Feds will.” Mason would circle back to the ex-boyfriend shortly.

  “But when? I know how this works. You guys sit around and wait for the big crime. All the other ones get overlooked, like little harassment charges. And really, can you call sending me a box of tasty goodies harassment?”

  He hadn’t expected Destiny to overreact. She carried herself with confidence. As if she could conquer anything. She had a quick wit and didn’t back down. She certainly voiced her opinions. “Yes. If his prints come back on those Ho Hos, we can file paperwork for harassment and a restraining order.”

  “I can see the headline now. Man picked up for leaving candy wrappers in woman’s yard.” She pushed past Mason, but he wasn’t about to let her run off now.

>   He curled his fingers around her biceps and yanked her to his chest. “Is there any chance that your ex might know Trip?”

  “It’s not a name that I’ve ever heard.” She flattened her hand on his shoulder and gave a good shove. Turning her back, she pranced barefoot, racing up the stairs, Coop following close behind.

  “Where the hell are you going?” He didn’t want to chase after her, but he wasn’t about to leave things as they were.

  “I need to call my uncle. Can I have five minutes alone? Please?” She stood at the top of the stairs. Her bare legs sparkled in the morning sun that filtered through the window.

  He groaned, noticing her tiny panties under his shirt. “Sure. I’ll just wait down here for you.” She wasn’t leaving without him getting the name of her ex-boyfriend. In the meantime, he planned on Googling her once more.

  Destiny didn’t want to risk being overheard, so she opted for texting.

  Destiny: I think you need to find a way to pull me. The boy that I tripped is dead. They think he’s involved with this guy Trip Snider. Mason is asking about my ex. I made the mistake of saying that he was the reason I left my old life, to get away from the drama. I said he had a gambling problem.

  She tossed the phone on the bed while she hiked up her pants, tying Mason’s shirt at her waist. She’d wash it and leave it in the cottage since she figured…no, she hoped…she’d be out of here by nightfall.

  Uncle Richard: I know about the boy. I also know about Trip. He’s not associated at all with Lucas. Or any of the other men on the list. They don’t run in the same circle. Nor did the man the FBI is really after.

  Destiny: And who is that?

  Uncle Richard: I can’t tell you, but trust me when I say he’s got nothing to do with Lucas or anyone Lucas was involved with. Totally different organized crime family from different parts of the country. It will take me a couple of days to get approval to get you out.

  Destiny: Days? Why?

  Destiny knew the second she opened Mason’s bedroom door he’d be all up her ass for the name of her ex-boyfriend. She’d need to give him something.