Delivering Justice (6 page)

There was no good way to put this, so he decided to come out with it straight. “A man was found dead in your motel room.”

“Milton?” Red sank to her knees. Her skin paled. Tyler crossed the room and helped her onto the stool a few feet away from her.

“No. Not him.” Anger tore through him again when he realized how badly she was shaking, this time from fear not cold.

“How?” she asked, looking utterly stunned. “Who?”

“Tommy doesn’t know the answer. The guy had a fake ID so they’ll start trying to identify him. As for how, he was stabbed to death after arguing with a man who we suspect was Milton,” Tyler said. “A witness says the two were fighting about a woman and a necklace. I’m guessing the woman is your sister and you by proxy. Any idea what the necklace is about?”

* * *

“T
HAT
’
S
THE
FIRST
I’ve heard about it but maybe that’s what is in the box,” Jessica said. Hold on a second. Was it? A memory pricked, like a sudden burst, and then it dawned on her as she brought her hand up to the bandage on her forehead. The bump to her head must’ve confused her and made her forget. “My sister wanted him out of town. She needed to get him out of the way as she investigated something... I can’t remember what. But she told me to go with him and agree to help him find the box. Once we got here, my sister told me she was getting close and to drag this out as long as I could.”

“And that’s exactly what you did,” he said, and there was anger in his eyes.

“Right before I got my head smashed with a rock after telling him I’d tricked him and had no idea what he was talking about.” She pulled the blanket from her shoulders and set it down.

“Feeling like he’d been duped must’ve made a man like Milton angry,” Tyler said.

“He’d rented the ATVs and we were on your property by the time I fessed up. I remember that much. I’d stalled as long as I could. He got so frustrated his face turned red and he started demanding to know where the box was.” She glanced at the bruises on her arms. “I expected him to be upset but I never thought he’d try to kill me.”

Tyler’s grip on the coffee mug intensified.

“He kept hinting at my neck when he talked about the box. I thought he was threatening me, you know, for show, because I never expected him to try to hurt my sister. Now I realize he must’ve been referring to a necklace.”

Tyler’s eyes widened. “I wonder...”

He retrieved his smartphone and pulled up a news story. She squinted at the screen to get a better look at the headline: Infinity Sapphire Stolen from Prominent Louisiana Family.

She quickly scanned the story. “This is the most famous necklace in America that isn’t stored in a museum?”

“Seventy-seven-point-seven carats total weight,” the handsome cowboy added. He stood so close that his scent filled her senses—a mix of woodsy aftershave and warmth, deep and musky—and it stirred up all kinds of inappropriate sensations.

“You know about this necklace?” She took a step back, needing to put a little space between them, and tried not to memorize his unique aroma.

“The couple that owns the necklace attended an art auction hosted by my family recently. I didn’t get a chance to talk to them. I prefer to be outside when all that’s going on.” He paused, turning the phone over and over in his hands. “Forgive the question, but I have to ask. Is there any chance your sister’s a jewel thief?”

“None. Zero. I’d bet my life on it,” she said, and she pretty much already had. “Whatever’s going on can be cleared up as soon as I speak to her. She might not even know how much danger she’s in. I have to find her before Milton or anyone else does.”

Jessica was already up, pacing, when the cowboy touched her shoulder. It was all she could do to ignore the frissons of heat zinging through her.

“We will.” His honest dark eyes seemed like they could see right through her. He was gracious to help her as much as he had already, but this situation had detoured to a very bad place and she didn’t feel right putting anyone else at risk.

“It’s too dangerous for you to be involved. Someone is dead because of this necklace. I can’t ask for your help anymore.”

“Let me be the judge of that,” he said quickly. “Besides, I’m not going anywhere until I know you’re safe.”

Looking into his eyes, she could see he meant it and she figured it was most likely some kind of cowboy code. But she couldn’t let anything happen to him, and especially not since he was being so generous helping her.

She started to protest but he stopped her with that same look.

“This is the situation as I see it. You have no transportation, no purse, and you have no idea who’s after you. To make matters worse, you won’t go to the law. So forgive me when I say that you don’t have a lot of options right now. I’m willing to help and I’m your best bet to keep you alive and find your sister.” He folded his arms and spread his feet in an athletic stance. “If those are your goals, and I believe I’m correct in saying they are, then I don’t see how you’re in a position to refuse my help.”

He was right about all of it. There was no denying what he said was true. “I do want to live and you’re absolutely correct about how desperate my situation is. But I still think it’s a bad idea for you to get involved any further. Milton’s out there, somewhere, probably looking for me. He must think that I know more than I’m saying or that I’m getting the necklace for myself.”

The cowboy’s slight nod said he agreed. He made a sound of disgust. “What exactly was his relationship to your sister?”

“All I know is that they dated a year or so ago. I thought he was out of the picture but I guess they stayed in touch. She dated society men and I’m sure it’s a small circle.”

“Did she mention anything specific about why she decided to leave him before?”

“There were a lot of things. Like, for instance, if a hostess said their table would be ready in twenty minutes and it wasn’t, he would become and angry and didn’t care who knew.” She looked at Tyler whose dark eyes penetrated her poorly constructed armor. She wanted to lean on someone, on him, even temporarily. “I knew he was a creep, but Jenn didn’t mention anything about him being physical with her.”

“Violence can escalate.” Tyler’s boots scuffed across the floor as he paced. “I’m sure Tommy will run a background check on him as part of his investigation.” Tyler stopped and held up his hand. “I know what you’re going to say, so don’t bother. But we will need to get Tommy more involved at some point.”

She started to protest but he just shook his head. “I won’t go behind your back, so don’t worry. But we have to bring in the law. We’ll talk more about that later. Right now, I want to hear more about Milton.”

“Jenn said he was upstanding but she might not’ve known him as well as she thought she did. He is...let’s see... I know she told me...oh, right. He’s a lawyer.”

“He didn’t sound like one when Tommy interviewed him,” Tyler said.

“Right. He’s a corporate guy, mergers, I think.”

“That explains the shiny shoes and his lack of knowledge about criminal law,” Tyler quipped, walking past her and once again filling her senses with his scent.

“I don’t know much else. I’m not even sure where he works but I’m guessing he’s with a corporation in or near Baton Rouge where she lives.” Jessica held up her coffee mug and breathed in the smell of dark-roasted beans.

“She said he was a jerk but she didn’t give details?” He shot her a look of disbelief. “Sounds unusual for twins.”

“I remember thinking she might’ve been too embarrassed to talk about him in detail, like he was seeing someone else while she thought they were exclusive or something along those lines.” Jessica braided her fingers. “The relationship didn’t last long. She didn’t call me in to break up with him, so they might’ve remained friends or run in the same circles. That’s about all I remember. I had no idea he was capable of actually hurting her. And now my memories are patchy about the past few days.”

“Not surprising, after the hit you took to the head,” he said.

“I think I’m awake enough for the day.” She set down her empty mug. “Mind if I get cleaned up in the bathroom?”

He stopped pacing and stared at her for a minute. She knew exactly what he was thinking. “I’m not planning another escape, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

His cheeks dimpled when he smiled. “There’s a spare toothbrush in your bathroom. It’s still in the wrapper. I’ll have breakfast delivered.”

She figured it would do no good arguing with a cowboy whose mind seemed made up, so she resigned herself to accepting his help.

“Tell me one thing, though,” he said as she started to leave the room. “How’d you sneak out this morning? I mean, you were on the second floor and I didn’t hear you leave.”

“I couldn’t sleep, so I heard the sheriff when he pulled in. The alarm code was easy because I watched you enter it last night. You seemed like a nice person but after being with Milton I had no plans to take that chance. I slipped out the side door.”

She kept to herself how relieved she was that she hadn’t gotten away for exactly the reasons he’d mentioned earlier. She was broke, alone, and had no means of communication. Not to mention the fact that she had no idea where she was and there would be all manner of wildlife outside that door. Plus, she was barefoot.

She was also desperate and she had a bad feeling about her sister’s current situation. “Jenn might be trying to reach me on my cell. Can we go to the motel room and check if it’s still there or is there no way now that it’s a crime scene?”

“We can do whatever you want. But first, we’re heading into the station so you can give a statement to one of the sheriff’s deputies,” he said matter-of-factly. “And if you want to stay above suspicion you’d better act like an unhappy fiancée.”

Chapter Six

“Do you think he believed me?” Giving her statement to the deputy had taken Jessica all of fifteen minutes, mostly because she didn’t know anything. She’d played the shocked fiancée as best she could, forcing tears that came only when she let herself think about her sister.

“You didn’t give him a reason not to,” Tyler said.

Jessica sank into the tan leather seat of the SUV as they drove to the motel room she’d shared with Milton. An involuntary shiver rocked her body at thinking about being in that place with him.

She should’ve been able to see right through that fake smile of his. Milton had charm in spades when he wanted to turn it on, and she could see why her twin would’ve been attracted to him. He was good-looking and had a professional job with what Jennifer would see as plenty of earning potential.

Jennifer had always wanted more out of life than the meager childhood they’d had in Shreveport. Both of their parents had worked low-wage jobs to support the family. Their mother had owned a cleaning service, her father had made a living doing seasonal yard work, and all three kids had had to pitch in to help summers. Jennifer had always imagined herself living in one of the grand Southern colonials they’d cleaned while Jessica had always been the more practical sister. She’d been able to see right through the men who dated Jennifer for superficial reasons and then dumped her when it was time to find a proper wife.

Tyler steered onto the highway. All makes and models of trucks blazed past them.

“I was remembering my last conversation with my sister. She said that she was involved in something and she needed to figure a way out, to clear things up. Or at least, I think that’s what she said.” Jessica gingerly fingered the wrap on her forehead.

“Which could mean that she is guilty of taking the necklace,” Tyler said, and she couldn’t argue with his reasoning. That’s exactly what this would look like to an outsider. Except that she knew her sister better than that. Jennifer could be flighty and she definitely liked a good party and hanging out with the highbrow crowd, but she was honest.

Convincing the handsome cowboy of that was a whole different story. She couldn’t prove that her sister wasn’t involved. All she had to go on was how well she knew Jenn.
Twins for life!
had been their mantra since they were little girls and most of the time it felt like they could read each other’s thoughts. Jessica had no such magic now and the silence was terrifying because she feared her sister was in grave danger.

“Jennifer might come off as insincere, and sometimes she is, but she’s also good underneath all the layers. Freshman year she went to Houston for college. I helped her move into her dorm and we went shopping to pick up a few extra supplies. We get in the car and Jenn realizes that the clerk had forgotten to charge her for a twelve-dollar pillow. It was late August in one of the hottest summers on record in Texas. Jenn’s car had no air-conditioning. But Jenn was worried that the clerk would get in trouble for the mistake. Drenched in sweat, she marched back inside to let him know.”

She stared out the front window. “I consider myself an honest person, but I would’ve returned to pay for the pillow another day or waited until the sun went down. Not Jennifer. No amount of begging could change her mind. By the time she got back I was dripping so I made her stop off at the nearest gas station so I could buy a cup of ice to rub on my sizzling skin.” And that was just one of many examples that came to mind.

Jessica could tell Tyler all day that her sister would never take something that didn’t belong to her, but she had nothing concrete to prove it and he had no reason to believe her. “I can see how this looks and if I was you I’d probably assume the worst and that she was a bad person—”

“Hold on there. No one said anything about jumping to the worst-case scenario. We need to think through every possibility and I’m going to have to ask hard questions along the way. If you say your sister couldn’t have stolen something then I believe you,” he said. “Let’s work with the assumption that she had no idea what was really going on but got herself tangled in this mess. That makes more sense anyway, because you two are close and based on my intimate knowledge of twins she wouldn’t knowingly put you in danger. Someone could’ve used her. Even made it look like she was the one who took the necklace to cover for themselves.”

“That necklace is worth a fortune. I’m betting Milton isn’t the only one trying to find it, aside from my sister,” she said. “With millions on the line, a lot of bad people would come out of the woodwork.”

“Which could explain the man at the motel and if that’s true, then I doubt Tommy will be able to identify him. He could be a treasure hunter or working for organized crime.”

“One of how many?” She touched a sensitive spot on her head and winced.

“There will be a lot. Some of them will be official. Insurance companies hire interesting
people to help investigate and recover merchandise like that, and a necklace worth millions would be insured to the nines,” Tyler said. “And then there’s the black market.”

Just the thought made her head hurt even more. “And my sister is tied up right in the middle of this, of all these vultures.”

“It would seem that way. Tommy is going to be following the same paths and I’m going to have to bring him in at some point,” Tyler said, and she thought about it for a long moment.

“Okay. But not without discussing it with me first.” She figured she could hold Tyler off long enough to get her bearings and for them to make enough progress for her to walk away and make sure he wasn’t in danger. Eventually she’d have to break out on her own. “I need to speak to my sister. It’s the only way to be certain of what we’re dealing with. I talk to her and everything will be cleared up.”

“You couldn’t reach her earlier.”

“True.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “I need my cell. She may have left a message or a clue. I bet she’s been trying to reach me and I haven’t been able to answer. I hid my phone because Milton was creeping me out. That’s why I didn’t bring it with me when we went out on ATVs. I was afraid he’d take it and then he’d know.” Jessica sat straight up in her chair, remembering a little more. “I find my cell and we get answers.”

* * *

T
HREE
-
INCH
-
WIDE
crime scene tape, Big Bird yellow with bold black lettering, stretched across the door of room 121 of the Bluff Motel. The sun was out and it was finally warming up a little.

A sickening feeling sank low in the pit of Jessica’s stomach as she walked across the black asphalt toward the room she’d been forced to share with Milton. It was bad enough that a man had been killed only fifteen feet away, even a man who was after her sister or James Milton didn’t deserve to be stabbed to death, but she could feel the sense of despair hanging in the air. Knowing what had happened and seeing the evidence right in front of her made everything that much more surreal. A man was dead. Her sister was missing.

Jessica’s stomach clenched and she tried to stave off nausea. The sheriff ducked under the tape and moved toward them. He was holding a paper bag—evidence?—which he handed to a deputy.

“I couldn’t be sorrier about what happened here,” the sheriff said with a genuine look of compassion. “Has your fiancé been in touch with you?”

In the moment, she’d almost forgotten about keeping up that charade.

“No, he hasn’t. But thank you very much, sheriff. This is all such a shock.” That much was true. Everything about the past thirty-six hours had turned everything she knew upside down and twisted up her insides. “I’m afraid I lost my cell so I don’t know if he’s been trying to contact me.”

Tommy nodded, which she took to mean neither he nor his deputy had found it.

“See anything in there that might help you figure out what happened?” Tyler asked, diverting the sheriff’s attention, and she was grateful for that.

Jessica didn’t have that same ability to fudge the truth with people that came so easily to her sister. In her heart, her sister was a good person incapable of hurting a soul. Of course, Jennifer never would have called it lying. She’d prefer to say something like
bending the truth
.

Tears leaked from Jessica’s eyes. Her sister had to be all right. If she’d gotten herself involved with men worse than Milton, Jessica was even more worried.

“I ran James Milton through the system,” Tommy said to her. “How well do you know your fiancé?”

“I learned a great deal more about him recently. Why?” Jessica wasn’t sure where this was going and she didn’t like lying to someone in law enforcement.

“What did you find?” Tyler asked, drawing the attention to him again.

Jessica shot him a grateful look.

“He has a record,” Tommy said matter-of-factly.

“For what?” Tyler asked as Jessica gasped.

Tommy looked from Tyler to her. “I’m guessing by your reaction you had no idea.”

“No. I would never have even guessed.” Jessica didn’t have to fake her reaction. She was genuinely shocked and even more worried for her sister. If the sheriff confused her reaction for feelings for Milton so be it. “You think you know someone.”

“I made a call to Baton Rouge PD and he’s pretty well known for having gambling issues.”

“Meaning the issue is that he loses,” Tyler added.

“They don’t call it a problem when they’re winning,” the sheriff said wryly. “He’s wanted for questioning in several cases the PD is trying to clear up, everything from small cons to extortion. They booked him on a small-time charge.”

“I had no idea,” Jessica said honestly as she tried to digest this news. She’d discovered that her so-called fiancé was a con man who’d set her up. More questions for Jenn were mounting. Jessica wondered if Milton had heard about the necklace and decided to steal it and cash in. Maybe he had debts to pay with the wrong people and one of those could’ve been the man that had been killed.

“Ever hear of Randall Beauchamp?” the sheriff asked.

“He’s the head of one of Louisiana’s wealthiest families,” Jessica said. “And I’ve heard that he doesn’t make all his money from legitimate sources.”

Had Jennifer gotten herself mixed up with one of the biggest crime families in Louisiana?

“The Baton Rouge police chief seems to think that Randall Beauchamp is on the hunt for a stolen necklace worth millions of dollars on the black—”

Before Tommy could finish his sentence, Jessica sank to her knees. Nausea threatened to overwhelm her. Her world tilted on its axis as the reality of her sister’s situation set in. Jennifer was as good as dead.

Was Milton working for the Beauchamps? Maybe he was greedy and wanted to sell the necklace in order to settle a gambling debt. Or maybe he needed the money to disappear.

Bile burned the back of Jessica’s throat as she felt herself being lifted up by strong arms.

“You don’t have to do this right now” came Tyler’s masculine tone, and it sent a warm current running through her. “We can deal with all of this later.”

“It’s okay,” she said as he led her to the passenger seat of the SUV. She turned to face him. “I need to do this.”

The sheriff stayed put. A deputy had brought over something he must’ve wanted to show his boss and the two were engaged in conversation.

She and Tyler were just out of earshot. “I need to find my phone.”

“Tommy or one of his deputy’s might already have it.”

Jessica shot him a look.

“No. There’s no way Tommy will release evidence in a murder investigation. He can’t.”

Jessica looked him dead in the eyes. “I hid it in between the mattresses.”

“Hold on” was all he said and then he walked away.

* * *

T
HE
DEPUTY
WHO
had been talking to Tommy put an evidence bag in his cruiser as Tommy disappeared inside the cordoned-off room.

“Hey,” Tyler said to Deputy Garcia. “Mind talking her off the ledge?”

Tyler motioned toward Jessica, hating that he was about to lie to his friends again. He’d known Garcia since middle school.

“What’s going on?” Garcia asked.

“She’s still in shock about all this. First, she decides to leave an abusive relationship and now a man turns up dead in her fiancé’s motel room. I think she’s blaming herself in some weird way, like if she’d stayed with him then everything would be okay,” Tyler said, praying his friend bought into the lie. “And now finding out that not only was he abusive but he was a criminal seems to have put her over the edge.”

“Not sure what I can say to help but I’ll try.” Garcia shook Tyler’s outstretched hand before walking over to Jessica.

There were only two law enforcement officials on the scene that Tyler had noticed so far. Hopefully Jessica could keep Garcia occupied while Tyler worked on Tommy.

Tyler glanced at Garcia, who had his back turned to him, and then ducked under the crime scene tape.

The room had worn dark blue carpeting and two full-size beds with heavy bedspreads that looked exactly like the curtains in his Gran’s old house. Beds, perfectly made, were to the right and there was a plywood desk and a dresser made of the same quality against the wall to the left. This was the sort of place that most likely bolted the furniture to the floor and nailed pictures to the walls.

Noise came from the bathroom beyond and Tyler figured Tommy was there collecting evidence and looking for clues.

He ran his hand along the box spring of the second bed, figuring that Milton wouldn’t want Jessica sleeping closest to the door in case she decided to bolt.

Bingo.

He tucked the phone in his front pocket and then turned to sneak out.

“You shouldn’t be in here,” Tommy said, standing in front of the closet leading to the bathroom. His arms were folded and his feet braced.

“I was just looking for you.” Damn. Tyler was a bad liar.

“I’ll give you a hint. I’m not in one of the drawers of the nightstand.” Tommy hadn’t bought the line.

“This?” Tyler turned to the nightstand with the phone and alarm clock on it, stalling for a few seconds while he tried to think up an excuse. He saw a pen and notepad with the hotel logo on it. Snatching them up, he then turned toward Tommy. “I was looking for these.”