Love Inspired Suspense April 2015 #1 (54 page)

Seth handed a piece of paper to Jace.

Jace read it, his mouth tightening. He showed it to Mel. She gasped as she read an email telling the senator that “it has been taken care of. The Swanson girl won't be able to hurt your campaign again.”

“I also have my suspicions that Dad has been cheating on my mom. His office staff love to gossip. Apparently, Dad has received gifts from an unknown source. The day Mel went to jail, he received flowers. No card.”

“Seth,” Jace began, “what do you know about the young girl who was killed four years ago?”

Seth cocked his head. His forehead puckered. “What do you mean? She was a college student. That's all I know.”

“You didn't know that she was your half sister?”

Seth staggered, the blood draining from his face. Mel had never seen him look so appalled. “No! What are you saying?”

Jace folded his hands on the desk. His face was blank, but compassion swam in his eyes. “It's true. Her stepbrother, Miles, confirmed it. And,” Jace continued in a softer voice, “she wasn't the only out-of-wedlock child the senator had. I'm sorry to tell you this, but the Chief and I found evidence today that you have at least two other half sisters.”

“I have sisters?” Seth rubbed his hands over his face and slumped in his chair. “I never knew anything about that, and I doubt my mom does, either. She's been really sick, and my dad doesn't like anything to upset her.”

He raised his gaze to meet Jace's. “What are the odds that my ex-fiancée and a half sister I didn't even know I had would just happen to meet?”

“It's even worse than that, Seth. Like I said, you have two other half sisters. One of them is Maggie Slade. The missing juror.”

SIXTEEN

A
strained silence filled the room as Mel and Jace watched Seth struggle to come to terms with this new development. His jaw worked, and his hands clenched and unclenched. He fixed his eyes on a place above them. She knew the signs. He was close to his breaking point. Despite his betrayal, Mel found her heart wrenching at the pain in his eyes. The worst part was knowing there was nothing she could do to ease his suffering. So she stayed where she was, a silent observer.

“I have sisters,” Seth finally whispered, his voice ragged. “I hope my father had nothing to do with Sylvie's death and Maggie's disappearance. I know he's obsessed with his career, but I really can't see him as a murderer—not of his own children.”

“I hope you're right, Seth,” Jace said. “But I have to investigate every angle. The chief has gone to bring your father in for questioning. We know he's involved somehow. When we searched her home, we found that Maggie's laptop was filled with research. Dates, at least one false marriage certificate, bank drafts. Probably bribes in return for silence.”

“Did he—did my father know Sylvie was his daughter when she died?” Seth asked.

“I think so,” Jace replied.

“Jace,” Mel interjected quietly, “what about Maggie? Did she and Sylvie know each other? Did she know they were sisters at the time of the trial?”

It sounded so cold to ask about that, but she had to know. Did Maggie have an agenda at her trial? It seemed fishy that she would be picked as a juror.

“I doubt either one knew they were sisters. The evidence I collected at her house suggests that Maggie knew she was the senator's daughter. She was pretty bitter about it, too. She and Sylvie never had any direct contact as far as we could tell. Her notes said she had found the third sister, a kid of about thirteen now. She was emailing the girl's guardian. Her email logs show that last year, the guardian sent Maggie a picture of the kid—Carrie is her name, I think. Maggie noticed that she looked almost exactly like Sylvie. That's when she started to piece things together.”

“It's quite a coincidence that Maggie ended up as a juror,” Mel pointed out.

“Yeah, but I really think it was a coincidence.” Jace stood and walked around the desk. He sat against the edge, stretching his long legs in front of him and folding his arms across his chest. “LaMar Pond is fairly rural. The jury was selected randomly.”

Someone knocked on the door. A clerk stuck her head in. “Lieutenant Tucker, Chief Kennedy has returned with the senator. He wants you to join him in his office as soon as you are able.”

“Gotcha. I'll be there right away.”

Jace held out his hand to Seth. “I'll look into everything you've told us, Travis. You should probably scat before your dad sees you here.”

“Yeah, you're probably right about that.” Seth started for the door. He stopped and turned. “I hope you find whoever killed Sylvie, even if it's my dad. And I hope you find Maggie safe and sound. I always wanted a sister.”

Melanie approached Jace, who was staring after Seth with a thoughtful frown. “Jace, I'm going to head off to the restroom for a few minutes. I don't really want to be in the room with the senator, either.”

“Sure, Mel, that's probably a good idea. Just let me find someone to walk with you.” She rolled her eyes at his paranoia, which he ignored. He stuck his head out the door and called for someone named Sheila. Sheila turned out to be a tall blonde in her forties. Her uniform was perfectly groomed from her shiny shoes to her ironed collar. Her hair was pulled back in a severe bun. She looked like a teenager's worst nightmare. Then she smiled, a big, open grin full of white teeth with dimples, and her whole countenance was transformed.

“Hey, Lieutenantt, what can I do for you?”

“Sheila, would you please escort Miss Swanson to the restroom?”

“Sure thing, my pleasure.” Sheila flashed Mel another toothy grin and motioned her to come along. “We'll have to use the stairs. Maintenance is working on the elevator.”

To her surprise, Mel found that Sheila was full of stories and mischief. She apparently knew just about everything and everyone from LaMar Pond. Mel enjoyed her conversation immensely. They had just reached the restroom when Sheila was paged. Uncertainty gathered on her face.

“Oh! I should call someone to stay—”

Mel shooed her away with a wave. “I'm at the restroom. I know my way back. Honestly, you go ahead. I'll be fine.”

“You sure?” Sheila queried, already edging away.

“Yes, I'm sure.”

Sheila sighed, her relief evident. “Great! I'll be back in just a minute—don't leave without me!” She dashed away.

Mel chuckled and entered the restroom. She just wanted a few minutes alone where she wouldn't run into the senator. Unfortunately for her, the restroom was already occupied. The woman at the sink sprayed herself liberally with perfume, then added a touch of hairspray to her hair.

Turning around in the entrance, Mel dashed out of the room. It was too late. The heavy, cloying perfume stuck to her clothes. She could already feel her air passages shrinking. A wheezing sound accompanied her breathing when she exhaled. Not a full-blown asthma attack, but it could turn into one. Sliding her hand into her pocket, Mel grasped her inhaler and used it. It was almost empty. She felt marginally better, but knew she needed her new one.

Sheila returned, a bright smile on her face as she noticed Mel sitting on a bench in the hall. It changed into concern when she noticed how Mel was breathing.

“Melanie, do you need help?”

“I need my new inhaler. Could you go to Lieutenant Tucker's office and get it out of my purse? I don't think I can do the stairs again without it.”

“I don't want to leave you by yourself, though.” Sheila gnawed at a fingernail.

“I'm in a police station. What could happen to me?”

Sheila seemed to come to a decision. “I'll be back in a jiffy.” She dashed up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Mel watched her leave. She sat on the bench watching people pass. From where she sat, she had a clear view of the street outside.

A familiar form hurried past the police station. Cathy? Mel noticed that Cathy was looking upset. Her head kept swiveling back and forth, as if she was watching for something. Melanie grew concerned. Cathy looked as if she might need some help. Melanie shot a look back at the stairs. No sign of Sheila. Deciding she could wait a few minutes before she really needed her inhaler, she headed out the door after her friend.

Cathy headed past the post office, then turned into an alley. Picking up her pace, Melanie followed her. She found Cathy standing next to her car talking with someone who was sitting inside the vehicle.

“Cathy,” Melanie called, a slight wheeze rattling out with each breath. “Are you okay? Do you need help?”

Melanie reached her friend's side and attempted a smile as she caught her breath. She moved her head to acknowledge the young man sitting in the car. He looked familiar. His dark hair was combed back, and he was wearing a suit and tie. She thought at first he was a young lawyer. Until she saw his eyes. His cold eyes that regarded her with contempt. Her smile froze and she began to back away.

“This is awkward, Mother,” the man she knew as Dr. Ramirez said with a sneer. “Looks like we'll have company on our drive.”

A hard object pressed against her side. Mel knew with stark clarity that what she felt was the barrel of a gun. Moving her head slightly, she found herself looking into Cathy Jordan's ice-filled eyes. She had no doubt the woman was capable of murder. The small click as Cathy cocked the gun gave her all the confirmation she needed.

* * *

Senator Travis was fuming. Jace couldn't care less. He'd been blustering for the past fifteen minutes about his ill treatment at the hands of LaMar Pond's incompetent police force. By unspoken agreement, Paul and Jace allowed the man to rant. When he seemed to run out of steam, Paul nonchalantly held up his arm so he had a good view of his wristwatch.

Jace bit back a grin. The senator swelled, looking ready to explode. My, that couldn't be good for the blood pressure.

“I have half a mind to sue this office for harassment,” the senator raged.

“By all means, call your lawyers,” Paul advised, “We have a few things to clear up, and you might be needing them.”

The legislator sneered. “What possible reason could I, a law-abiding citizen, have need of a lawyer? This is a witch hunt, and I won't stand for it.”

“I don't know, Senator,” Jace drawled, inspecting his hands. “It seems to me that bigamy is still illegal in the state of Pennsylvania. Isn't that right, Paul?”

“Last I checked it was,” Paul confirmed.

“Bigamy?” Senator Travis repeated, losing some of his bravado. “I don't know what you're talking about. I'm a happily married man!”

“Twice!” Jace quipped. The senator glared. “We have a certificate, copied from the computer of Margaret Slade, of the marriage between yourself and her mother, Anna Slade. The curious thing is that the date indicates this marriage happened while you were already married to Mrs. Travis. Would you care to explain?”

The senator sat down in a chair, hard. “You can't understand.”

Paul leaned forward, getting in the man's face. “Try me. We have several issues at hand, including murder. Start talking.”

At the word
murder
, the senator's face blanched, and his hands trembled. Sweat pebbled on his protruding forehead. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and mopped his face and brow with it.

“Murder? No, I never killed anyone. You can't pin that charge on me. I did marry Anna. My wife and I were separated, and I didn't think we'd get back together. I figured I'd divorce her quietly, marry Anna and that would be the end of it.”

“But you never divorced your wife,” Jace stated, his voice hard.

The senator flinched. “No. She was diagnosed with a disorder of her nervous system years ago. She needed me. I left Anna and came home. Anna was very bitter. She was pregnant and couldn't collect support because I was already married. I paid her, anyway, and every month, she received money for Maggie's upkeep. In return, she promised to hold her tongue.”

“Tell us about Sylvie,” Paul ordered.

Senator Travis swallowed. “She was the product of a short-lived affair. I never knew about Sylvie until four and a half years ago. She started to dig into her parentage. When I found out I was her father, I tried to pay her off. I couldn't afford the scandal. And I didn't want Seth to know.” He looked at them frantically, his eyes bulging as they darted between the two officers. “But I didn't kill her.”

“Did you threaten the jurors into finding Melanie guilty?” Jace snarled. He was done playing games.

“No! Of course not. Why would I do that?”

Jace stalked over to the senator and glared down at him. “Because someone really wanted Melanie to go to jail. Someone threatened three jurors, then when two of them came forward, they were killed. Just like they killed Sarah Swanson. And now that same someone is after Melanie, and they apparently don't care how many people they kill to get to her.”

Senator Travis leaped from his chair. He backed toward the wall, putting distance between himself and Jace. It was no use. Jace followed him like a hunter, never taking his furious gaze from the senator. The senator stopped when he came up against the wall. Jace was almost toe-to-toe with him.

“No! I didn't threaten or hurt anyone! All I wanted was to avoid the scandal and have an easy campaign.”

The door to the office was flung open. A distressed Sheila barged into the room. She held Mel's inhaler in one hand, and her other fist was clenched around a small object.

“Chief! Lieutenant! Melanie's gone!”

“Gone!” Jace made an instinctive move toward the door to go find her, but Paul's hand on his shoulder forestalled him.

“Easy, Jace. Sheila. Tell us what happened.”

“Yes, sir.” Sheila sucked in a huge lungful of air. “I took her to the restroom. When she came out, her breathing was a little wheezy. She tried to use her inhaler, but it was empty. She asked me to come up and get this.” She waved the inhaler she held at them. “I searched her purse and found this.” Unclenching her fist, she held out the tiny object for them to inspect.

“The bug,” Paul exclaimed.

“You say that was in her purse?” Jace questioned, urgency filling him.

She nodded. “I went back to find her and she was missing. I thought she might have gone outside. My daughter has asthma, and sometimes fresh air helps her. But when I went out, I couldn't find her.”

“How long ago was this?” Paul strode away from his position near Jace and back to the phone on his desk.

“I don't know. Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes ago. She insisted she was fine. Sitting in a police station, what could happen?”

It took another fifteen minutes, but Paul was able to locate someone who had seen Melanie. A clerk who had been taking her break outside remembered seeing her walking down the sidewalk and turning into the alley. She hadn't thought anything of it, not realizing who Melanie was. A few minutes later, she had noticed Melanie in the back of a dark SUV leaving the station.

The driver had been a woman with bouncy blond hair. She recalled the vanity plate read CATHY7.

Cathy Jordan.

“I never even thought of Cathy!”

Paul picked up the phone and barked to the person on the other end that they needed all available personnel to search for the two women. He replaced the phone. “I never thought of her, either. It explains how she knew the jurors were coming forward—as Melanie's attorney, they probably contacted her directly. And if Melanie thinks of her as a friend—” he looked at Jace, who nodded his agreement “—that explains how she was able to slip the bug into place. But offhand, it's hard to come up with a reason why she'd want to hurt anyone—Sylvie, the jurors, Melanie.”