Chapter 13
Tracking down Jaden had been easy. Mike had, indeed, been stealthy in following him to Cam’s house. The special ops soldier had managed to remain unseen. Thad had found an unsuspecting Jaden at his home. His car was in the driveway and lights were on inside the house. Jaden hadn’t known he’d been followed, wasn’t aware Cam had been arrested or that he’d been caught tampering with the security at Kate’s estate. So desperate for money, Jaden hadn’t taken into consideration that Thad had seen him at Cam’s house. He may know Cam, but he wasn’t the one who’d planned to hold Lucy captive. He’d thought he could get away with his part in the crime.
With a team of agents that Todd had assembled standing by in cars parked out of sight, Thad knocked on Jaden’s door. Todd had agreed to help instead of excluding him in Jaden’s arrest. He’d told him that Jaden had deceived the gatehouse guard and relieved him for the night. Todd’s team spirit convinced Thad he was one of the good guys, and a good man to have on his mother’s security detail.
Jaden answered the door with a look of perplexity.
“You and I need to talk,” Thad said.
After searching the front of the house, Jaden didn’t resist when Thad pushed the door open wider and stepped inside the newer home he’d rented after his wife had kicked him out. Sparsely furnished and nothing on the walls, only a chair and a TV decorated the small living room. An overhead light hung in the middle of the room, blinding in its brightness. There was no dining table and the overhead light was on in there, too.
“What brings you here at this hour?” Jaden asked.
Thad couldn’t decide which question to ask first. He wanted to keep Cam’s arrest secret for now.
“How much do you know about my mother’s shooting?” With Jaden’s cautious look, Thad said, “You’re a member of her security detail. They keep you abreast of any progress made in the investigation, don’t they?”
Jaden eyed him a bit longer. He must know there was a reason Thad was here. He was concerned about why but not concerned enough. “They told us the shooter is still at large. I’m not involved in the investigation. Why are you asking me about that?”
“Do you know who the shooter is?” Thad asked, more of a taunt than a question.
Jaden’s brow twitched with intensifying confusion...and worry. “Why would I?”
The guilty ones always got nervous. “Leaving a window unlocked and then the side door... It’s almost as though you were trying to let someone in.” The slight blanch of Jaden’s face revealed enough. He hadn’t anticipated being seen at the side door.
“Why did you do it?” Thad asked.
“That’s what you came here to ask?”
“Why did you unlock the door?” Thad demanded.
Jaden held his silence. But after a few seconds, he said, “You can’t prove I did anything.”
Thad reached into his front pocket to show Jaden the USB device. “Actually, I can.”
Looking from the jump drive to Thad’s face, Jaden’s nervousness became palpable. Now his concern mounted.
“How did you get the guard to leave the gate?” Thad asked.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I left the estate and came straight here.”
Liar. “Why did you unlock the door?”
“I didn’t mean to. I was checking it. If I unlocked it, I didn’t mean to.”
“Who do you think you’re talking to?” Thad was an experienced crime scene investigator. The reminder of that registered with Jaden.
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Jaden insisted.
“What about the gatehouse guard?”
“What about him?”
“He said you let him go for the night.”
“He’s lying.”
Thad angled his head to show his disbelief.
Jaden said nothing, but he had to know he was caught by now.
Thad walked into the living room, going to the back of the sofa and facing Jaden again. “I know you’re having trouble at home. Your wife is leaving you and you’re close to bankruptcy.”
Jaden faced him but didn’t move farther into the room. “Digging into my personal life?”
“Did you do it for money?” Thad asked.
Jaden had no reply for that.
“How much did Cam pay you to kidnap Lucy?” Thad dropped the magical question. He watched Jaden process how Thad might have come to learn of this.
“I saw you at Cam’s house, remember?” Thad helped him.
Jaden started to back toward the door.
“I wouldn’t go out there if I were you.”
Pausing, he looked toward the window, and then went there. When he saw nothing outside, he looked back at Thad.
“Mike Harris saw you leaving the estate with Lucy tonight.”
Jaden turned from the window, his skin pale. After a long, desperate moment, he said, “I’ll tell you where she is.” He realized the trouble he was in and thought he could bargain his way out of it. Or attempt to.
Thad wasn’t ready to reveal that Lucy was safe. “Why did you leave the side door unlocked?”
“I told you, I didn’t mean to do that.”
“Was leaving the window unlocked an accident, too? And what about the security system? Did you accidentally shut that off?” The man had to know he’d get nowhere denying his guilt.
Jaden’s jaw clenched and released in his tension. “I’ll tell you where Lucy is. Just let me go.”
So he could run from the law? Thad wasn’t that kind of cop. And this was too personal to be lenient. “I need a few more questions answered.”
“Okay.” Jaden looked hopeful that if he answered his questions Thad might let him go.
“Cam paid you to bring him Lucy,” Thad said. “Did he also pay you to kidnap Sophie?”
“No. Cam approached me after Lucy moved in at the estate. I didn’t know about Sophie’s kidnapping.”
Thad could see and hear the truth in that reply. Jaden hadn’t been involved in Sophie’s kidnapping, only Lucy’s. That meant someone other than Jaden was behind this. Jaden was another dead end. Cam must have discovered Jaden’s situation—that he needed money—and made him a proposition. Could Cam be the shooter? Thad didn’t see how. He’d been busy holding Lucy prisoner. He hadn’t gone to break in to the estate.
“Who did you leave the door open for?” Thad asked.
“I keep telling you—”
“You keep telling me a lie!” Thad roared.
Jaden met Thad’s eyes and didn’t budge.
“Who else is paying you?” Thad asked in a calmer tone.
“No one. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know who kidnapped the little girl and I didn’t leave any door unlocked.”
The first might be true but Jaden did leave the door unlocked. Thad realized he could ask a hundred times and Jaden wouldn’t give in. He seemed too afraid to. He wasn’t afraid to talk about Lucy, but the door was another matter.
Maybe the police would have better luck. Thad headed for the door.
“Don’t you want to know where Lucy is?” Jaden asked.
With a glance behind him, Thad opened the door and held up his hand to signal the agents.
“What are you doing?” Jaden asked.
Thad moved out of the way as agents burst into the house. Jaden tried to escape out the back, but there were agents there waiting. Now he’d understand that Thad had already known where Lucy was and Cam hadn’t gotten away with what he’d planned.
* * *
That Friday, Lucy yawned as they neared Carova. They’d gotten a late start. It was dinnertime and she was starving. Thad must have read her mind...or gotten tired of Sophie repeatedly asking if they were there yet from the backseat of the car. He turned into the parking lot of an Irish pub. It was on the way and a convenient stop.
Beneath soft lighting, the hostess led them over rugged wood floors and through a maze of heavy wood tables. The wood chairs had green cushions on them. Clovers decorated the walls between historical pictures of the town.
Sophie took hold of Lucy’s hand as they walked to their table. A young couple saw them, the woman smiling fondly as she took in the trio. They looked like a real family. With her light brown hair and golden-brown eyes, Sophie could pass as Thad’s daughter. Lucy’s hair was darker and she had green eyes, but people would think she’d taken after her daddy.
Thad put his hand on Lucy’s lower back to guide her ahead of him, the gesture intimate. Daddy loved Sophie’s mommy.
If only it were true...
They sat at a booth with Lucy and Sophie on one side and Thad on the other. An elderly woman sitting with her husband smiled over at them, adoring them as the other woman had.
“We must look like we’re a family,” she couldn’t resist saying, knowing Thad would struggle with it.
He glanced around and saw the elderly woman give him a nod of greeting. He awkwardly nodded back, then sent Lucy an unappreciative frown.
She laughed a little.
“What’s funny?” Sophie asked, pausing in her drawing. The pub had a kids coloring page.
“Nothing.” She lifted the menu and began to read. “What do you like to eat, Sophie?”
“Um...” Her young eyes lifted as she thought. “I want...mac ’n’ cheese with French fries.”
“Okay, you got it. The culinary delight of mac ’n’ cheese and fries coming right up.” She looked at Thad, who noticed her playfulness and a flicker of a grin almost emerged.
“What can I get for you?” a waitress asked. She was young and short with beautiful, bright blue eyes and hair in a bob much like Sophie’s, the same color, too.
Something about her struck Lucy as familiar. She couldn’t place her, though. She’d never been to this pub before and didn’t know anyone in the area.
“You’re Thad Winston, aren’t you?” the elderly woman’s husband asked, interrupting their order.
Thad looked over. “Yes.”
“We heard about your mother. How is she doing?”
“Much better, thanks for asking.”
“That’s good. Did they catch her shooter?”
“No, not yet. But I’m sure we will.”
The man missed Thad’s inclusion of himself in the investigation. “Damn crazies out there. Kate Winston would make a fine president. She’s got our vote.”
“Thanks, I’ll be sure to tell her.”
That seemed to please the old man immeasurably. He didn’t interfere any further.
“You’re Kate Winston’s son?” the waitress asked.
“Yes.”
“Wow. We have a celebrity in the house.” She beamed a smile.
“I wouldn’t go that far. I’m just her son,” Thad said.
Lucy had never thought of him as a celebrity. He was humble and down-to-earth. A sports fan and a cop.
“What can I get you folks?” the waitress asked.
“Mac ’n’ cheese!” Sophie burst out.
“With fries,” Lucy added.
The waitress wrote the order down and Lucy ordered a hamburger. Thad asked for the same. It was French fry night.
The waitress walked away, going over to the kitchen where an older man stood. A little taller than average in height, he had graying dark brown hair and a ruddy complexion, he resembled the girl in certain ways. Lucy wondered if they were related.
“Does she look familiar to you?” Lucy asked Thad.
He looked where her gaze was fixed and then turned back to her. “No. Why?”
“She seems familiar to me.” She watched as the man grew surly with the waitress. He looked over at her and Thad.
“That man recognizes us.” She watched him exchange words with the waitress, who seemed taken aback and then argued with whatever he’d said.
Thad looked at the waitress and the man again. “Really?”
Lucy didn’t have to answer. The man came over to their table.
“Thad Winston, are you?” he said. Animosity hung in his tone. He struggled to control it.
What was this all about?
“Yes,” Thad said. “I’m sorry, you have me at a disadvantage. I don’t believe we’ve met before.”
“You may not know me, but I know you. I told my granddaughter not to serve you. I’ll send someone else over. Unless you’d like to go somewhere else?”
“I don’t understand. Why won’t you let your granddaughter wait on us?” Thad asked.
“Name’s Patrick O’Hara. That’s my granddaughter Shelby. She’s too precious for the likes of you.”
“Why are you so angry?” Lucy asked. “Shelby looked familiar to me when she came to our table. I may have seen her or met her before.”
“You tell Kate Winston I won’t be voting for her.” With that, Patrick O’Hara, who probably owned the pub, stormed away.
“What was that all about?” Lucy asked.
“Must not like my mother,” Thad said.
“Maybe we should go somewhere else,” Lucy said.
“Is that man going to spit in our food?” Sophie asked with the frankness only a child could get away with.
“We’ll go somewhere else.” Thad stood up. “In fact, we’re close enough to the beach house. Why don’t we pick something up at the store and make it there?”
“Okay.”
“No,” Sophie complained. “I’m hungry.”
“We’ll feed you,” Lucy said. “Come on.”
“No. I don’t want to go.”
“If we go to the store we can get ice cream,” Thad said.
That smoothed the child’s defiant face. “Can I still have mac ’n’ cheese?”
“Of course you can,” Thad answered.
Sophie scooted out of the booth with Lucy.
Lucy saw how Patrick and Shelby watched them, Patrick appearing satisfied they were leaving and Shelby looking from him to the three of them, clearly not understanding why Patrick had displayed so much anger toward them.
* * *
Lucy got out of the rental Jeep Grand Cherokee Thad had driven here and had to just stand and admire the beach house. It was a stunning piece of architecture. She hadn’t expected anything less, but the beauty of this place was remarkable. Made of stone trimmed in white, it was three levels with a fanning stone staircase leading to the entrance on the second level. And it was quiet. Only wind and waves had greeted them.
Thad handed her a grocery bag with a grin. She took it and turned her attention to another bag in the back of the Jeep. Sophie carried her stuffed puppy and walked with her behind Thad to the front door. Lucy looked back and to the side of the house. Five horses grazed on patches of tall grass about a hundred yards from here. There were other houses, but they were far away. The Winston family must own a good chunk of land to keep the development at bay and the views pristine.
Lucy stepped into the entry, white and dark wood stairs to the left leading both up and down and straight ahead she saw a wide, open room with shining dark wood floors and soft yellow walls. Neutral red-, yellow-and green-striped chairs and a huge brown leather sectional were positioned before a panel of white-trimmed windows.
Leaving the entry, Lucy passed a pair of open white French doors to a dining room on her right. Across from there was another set of French doors, those opening to a smaller sitting area, a place to get away from the noise. On the other side of the wall from the dining room was the kitchen, overlooking the living room. Dark granite countertops and white cabinets looked rich and clean, and the double-door, stainless-steel refrigerator could feed an army. An island lined with stools separated the kitchen from the living room, and a round, casual dining table sat at the end of the kitchen before the wall of windows it shared with the living room.
Sophie skipped into the living room and dropped her stuffed animal and tote bag. Dolls spilled out, and she busily fell into imaginative play. No doubt, this was the biggest dollhouse she’d ever seen. It certainly was for Lucy—this had to be a dream.
Lucy put down the bags on the kitchen island counter with Thad and began to unload groceries. There were no stores here, only beach houses, sand and ocean. They’d stopped in Corolla on the way.
Thad turned on the oven and put French fries on a cooking sheet while Lucy put a container of mac ’n’ cheese in the microwave.
“I’ll grill our burgers,” Thad said.
This had such a domesticated feel. She followed him to the balcony door, drawn by the view. The sun was setting, giving the ocean’s surface an orange sheen. Thad started the giant steel grill on the balcony. Stairs led down to the pool. There was also a hot tub.
Going to the railing, she rested her hands there and leaned over to see the back of the house. There were windows on every side, but panels of them filled the back on all levels. A wooden railed path led to the beach, breaking waves rolling up onto sand in the distance. The beach was wide and went on for as far as the eye could see.
Catching Thad watching her, having paused in his task of putting burgers on the grill, Lucy turned and went back into the house to cut tomatoes, cheese, onions and lettuce. The look in Thad’s eyes stayed with her. He seemed relaxed, even with Sophie here.
The television played in the living room and Lucy realized Sophie had turned it on. She’d had to become more independent since her mother died.
She finished preparing Sophie’s dinner and put the plate on the kitchen island.
“Sophie.”
“Yes!” Sophie bounded into the kitchen and clumsily climbed up onto the stool. She had a spoon in hand and stirred the steaming macaroni and cheese. It was too hot to eat.
Lucy resumed getting the burgers ready. They’d bought coleslaw and potato salad to keep it simple.
“Lucy?” Sophie queried in her high-pitched voice.
“Yes?”
“Do I have to go back to Rosanna’s house?”
That was a loaded question. Lucy stopped what she was doing and faced Sophie. “No, honey, you don’t.”
Her head tilted to one side as that news confused her. “Am I going to live with you now?”
“For a while, yes.” The question singed Lucy, piercing through her core.
Sophie’s head tilted again, more confusion gripping her. “For how long?”
“I don’t know. We have to work it through the State.”
“What’s the State?”
“The people who sent you to Rosanna’s house.”
Instead of confusion, dislike pinched her mouth and saddened her sweet brown eyes. “I don’t like those people.”
“They’re trying to help you.”
“I don’t like them.”
Moving around the island, Lucy put her hand on the girl’s head, smoothing her unruly hair. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure everything turns out okay.” She wasn’t sure how she’d do that, but she’d do all she could.
“Why can’t I live with you all the time?” Sophie asked.
Choked up over her helplessness and indecision over what to do about Sophie, Lucy couldn’t answer.
“Don’t you want me?”
Oh, that stung. “It’s not that, Sophie.” What could she say to avoid hurting her? Her young mind wouldn’t understand.
“Why doesn’t anyone want me?”
“It isn’t that anyone doesn’t want you.”
“My mommy left. Rosanna doesn’t want me. And now you.”
Lucy swiveled Sophie’s stool so that she faced her and took her hands. “Okay, listen to me, Sophie. Your mother didn’t leave you. She died. And Rosanna...” She looked down, uncertain of how much to tell her. Not one who believed in lying to children, she went with the truth. “Rosanna died, too. She was in an accident the night we picked you up from the fishing house.”
The news troubled Sophie, but she couldn’t process so much terrible information all at once. She hadn’t known Rosanna the way she’d known her mother. “Like my mommy?”
“Yes, like your mommy.”
“Well...” Consternation and more confusion marred her face. “Then I better not live with you.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’ll die, too.”
Lucy gathered the girl into a hug. “No, I won’t. I’m not going to die. You’re safe now, I promise. We’re all safe.”
Sophie clung to Lucy, in need of love and attention. Lucy would give her all she had this weekend and for however long she had with her.
Thad came inside just then and paused on his way to the counter, carrying a plate of cooked burgers. He was all man standing there and probably feeling awkward over interrupting what was obviously a tender moment between woman and child, two things he struggled with most. “Everything okay in here?”
“Yeah.” Lucy ruffled Sophie’s hair. “Just a little girl talk.”
Lucy swiveled the stool back toward the counter. “Finish your meal. We’re here to have fun. Forget all the rest.”
Sophie lifted her spoon and dug into the macaroni and cheese. Lucy couldn’t tell if all the death that surrounded her still bothered her. Her mother’s death would stay with her for the rest of her life. Rosanna’s she may not understand. She may think about it for a while but Lucy was confident that it would pass, and as soon as she got somewhere stable, as soon as someone adopted her, she’d flourish.
She and Thad made their plates and sat at the island as Sophie finished and jumped off the stool to go back to playing with her dolls.
Thad was quiet after seeing her with Sophie and he kept glancing over at her.
“What do you think will happen to her?” he asked in a low enough voice that Sophie wouldn’t hear over the television.
“She’ll be put in another foster home.”
“How long will that take?”
“I don’t know that, either.”
He studied the girl. “I wish there was something we could do.”
“I suppose we’re doing all we can,” she said.
When he met her eyes, she could tell he struggled the way she did.
Thad turned back to his plate but didn’t resume eating. He’d already finished most of his food. Talk of what to do with Sophie had ruined his appetite. Why? Lucy wondered. Because he’d considered the possibilities? And if he had, it had probably scared him.
Lucy decided to spare him. And herself. She got the feeling he was beginning to test waters—with her. Something in him sought to find out if Lucy had what it took to make it all the way. Something strong enough to bypass his beliefs about marriage. Even if he never married in his life, long-term commitment was difficult for him. Was he contemplating whether Lucy would make a good candidate, or was worth a try?