Love Inspired Suspense May 2015 - Box Set 1 of 2: Trail of Evidence\Gone Missing\Lethal Exposure (6 page)

“Of course.”

“I'm not a big fan of the congressman,” Nicholas said. “I've made no secret of that. I respect what he's done with the children's home and how he took you under his wing. He's done some good things, I'll admit that.”

“But?” Gavin raised a brow.

“But I suspect that things aren't completely aboveboard with him. I'll also admit it's more suspicion and speculation than anything. I don't have any solid proof.”

Gavin placed his fists on the table and leaned toward Nicholas. “If you can't prove it, don't say it. Think long and hard before you open your mouth and slander a good man.”

Nicholas met Gavin stare for stare. “It's not slander, Gavin. I'm not sharing this with anyone but the people in this room.”

“Then get proof.”

Nicholas sat back and crossed his arms. “Right.”

Gavin held his gaze a moment longer, then looked over the very still and quiet team members. “That goes for all of you.” He paused and homed back in on Nicholas and his expression eased a fraction. “You're not often wrong, Nicholas, I'll grant you that.” He paused and frowned. “I just think you are in this case, so tread carefully.” Gavin gathered his phone and other things and headed out of the room. The others trickled slowly behind him.

Brooke got up and Nicholas touched her arm. “Hang on a sec, would you?”

She paused. “Sure.”

When it was just the two of them left in the conference room, Nicholas shut the door. “Gavin's too close to this. He doesn't want to hear anything negative about the congressman.”

“Yeah, I got that.”

“But I'm telling you, there's something not right about him.”

“What have you found out?”

He motioned for her to sit down. She did and he sat next to her, his shoulders leaned in, face tense. “I was at the White House the other day doing some snooping. I found out that Congressman Jeffries had a young aide, Paul Harrison, who quit unexpectedly. The source I talked to said he didn't know the details, just that the guy was there one day cleaning out his desk. When my source asked him what was wrong, he wouldn't say, but he was scared.”

“Scared of what?”

“That's just it, I don't know and I couldn't find out.”

“Which is why you didn't tell Gavin this. Have you found the aide?”

“No, not yet. Mr. Harrison disappeared shortly after he quit working for the congressman.” Nicholas clasped his hands in front of him. “This whole thing stinks, Brooke. I think the congressman is dirty. I just need help proving it.”

Brooke blew out a breath and leaned back in her chair. “That's going to be quite a job.”

“I know. We're close, though, so close I can almost taste it. I want to put this guy away.”

“If he's guilty.”

“He's guilty. I've been digging into the congressman's history and activities. Especially those close ties to Thorn Industries.”

“Thorn Industries is coming up a lot lately—and it's not good stuff.” She pursed her lips.

“Exactly. If he's guilty of some kind of corruption, I think that would make him extremely paranoid and nervous.”

“Nervous enough to kill?” Brooke narrowed her eyes as she considered her own question.

“I don't know.”

“What if Rosa knew something? Or saw something?” she pressed.

“And he had to kill her to keep her quiet?”

“Maybe.”

“It's possible of course, but pure conjecture.”

“Which might be pure truth. I'm also going to see if I can track down the aide whose sudden departure has me curious.”

Brooke stared at him for a few seconds, then gave a reluctant nod. “Okay then. If you're right, then we're not going to need just proof, we're going to need airtight,
irrefutable
proof. Like a confession kind of irrefutable proof.”

“And we're going to need to watch each other's backs. There's no telling how far he'll go to protect his name.”

“If you're right, we already know how far he'll go.”

Brooke pursed her lips. “All right then. Let's get those flyers up and see if we get a hit on anyone. If we do, we can immediately see if that person has any kind of link to the congressman.”

“Good idea.” He glanced at the closed door. “And keep this between us, I guess. I don't want to stir up Gavin's wrath any more than I already have.”

“I understand.” She frowned. “It's going to be hard for him if your suspicions are proven true.”

“I know, but we don't have a choice. We have a dead woman who deserves justice.”

“And a single dad who has a killer after him and his son.”

SEVEN

J
onas hung up with the insurance company and sighed. He looked around his office and just prayed Felix was staying out of trouble while at school today. He'd been grumpy and snappy and nothing Jonas had said or done this morning had been right. Not only that, Felix had complained his toast was dry and the cereal soggy. He'd walked out the door without a look back.

Jonas rubbed his tired eyes and glanced at the clock. It was only eight-thirty in the morning, and he had a full day scheduled. The first patient would be arriving any moment and Jonas couldn't get himself together. Yesterday had been surreal and he still wasn't sure it hadn't been just one more nightmare to add to his repertoire.

He picked up the stress reliever ball from his desk and started squeezing it. Squeeze, release, squeeze, release. He threw it across the room and watched it bounce. That helped.

Claire poked her head in the door. “Mrs. Boyd is here with Chester.”

Jonas forced a smile to his lips and stood. “What is it today?”

“She thinks he ate a bowl of gummy worms her grandson left on the coffee table.” Chester, the big golden who ate anything he could sink his teeth into. Whether it was meant for him or not.

Jonas shook his head and headed for the door when his cell rang. “Tell Mrs. Boyd and Chester I'll be right there.” He pressed the answer button. “Hello?”

“Hi, Jonas, it's Brooke.”

Just hearing her voice made his day better. “Hi. How's it going?”

“Busy. We're moving full speed ahead on trying to track down the man in the picture on Rosa Gomez's phone. We're putting flyers up all over town. Since someone tossed a smoke bomb in your house two nights ago and then shot up the restaurant yesterday, we're going to put some around those areas, too. Do you mind if I bring some to your office?”

“Of course I don't mind.” He glanced at the clock. “Would you be free for lunch around noon?”

“I think I could do that.”

“Good. We'll talk about where to eat when you get here.”

“How was Felix this morning?”

His mood soured. “Don't ask.”

“Ouch. I'm sorry. He'll come around.”

“Yeah.” Maybe.

“See you in a few hours.” She hung up.

Jonas stared at his phone. As much as he loved his job and his patients, he knew the next three hours and fifteen minutes were going to drag by.

When Brooke finally walked in the door with Mercy trotting at her heels, Jonas smiled. Then frowned. She looked so serious, with her tight jaw and set shoulders, but he was still happy to see her. “I thought noon would never get here.”

At his words, her petite frame relaxed and her blue eyes gave him a glimmer of a smile. “I felt the same way. I'm starving.”

“Do you think we could eat somewhere that won't get blown up or shot at?”

Her nostrils flared at the reminder and for a moment he was sorry he'd brought it up. Then she smiled. “Sure. I have the perfect place.” She handed him several flyers. “Do you mind handing these out to your clients?”

“Of course not.” He placed them on the front counter. “We'll post one on the door, too.”

“Great, thanks.”

“So. Lunch?”

“Why don't I drive?”

Claire's attention had been bouncing back and forth between the two of them. “So, I guess I'll just stay here and man the phones while you two enjoy your meal.”

Jonas froze for a second before turning to Claire. She held his gaze for a moment then laughed. “I'm kidding. Enjoy yourselves.”

“Are you sure? You're welcome to come with us. I could lock up for a couple of hours.”

Claire waved a hand. “It was a joke, Jonas. Go on. I've got enough here to keep me busy for a while and I want to finish it before five.” She picked up the tape and grabbed one of the flyers. “And I'll put this in the window right now.” The phone rang. “Or I will in a minute. Go.” She answered the phone with a smile.

She really had been kidding. He shook his head. He'd never been very good at picking up vibes from women and it didn't look like his skills had improved since his wife had left.

Although, he had to admit, he picked up on Brooke's vibes pretty well. And they confused him. She seemed like she wanted to get closer to him. The look in her eye, her body language. All of that confirmed it. But then when he'd try to respond, she'd get skittish and throw up a wall that left him bruised and battered when he slammed into it.

He followed her out to her vehicle and she opened the back door for Mercy. The dog hopped in and settled herself in the special area designated just for her. Brooke slipped into the driver's seat and Jonas watched her fasten her seat belt. “So do you like burgers or chicken?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I like both.”

She slid him a look. “Which one do you like today?”

“Burgers.”

Brooke started the car and pulled from the parking lot. “There's a little place not too far from here. Hopefully, I'll get to finish a meal. I'm waiting to hear back from Nicholas about visiting Congressman Jeffries sometime today.”

“Why him?”

“We think he may have some more information about his housekeeper's death—and his son's.”

“Do you think he had something to do with either?”

Brooke pulled into the diner's lot and parked. She looked over at him. “I can't say whether he did or not. But my other team member and I feel like it wouldn't hurt to talk to him again.”

Jonas nodded and stepped from the car. He looked around, trying to see if anyone had followed them. He noticed Brooke doing the same. “Do you see anything?”

“No. And I was watching while I was driving. I never saw anyone suspicious behind us.”

They walked into the restaurant and Brooke led him to a corner booth that had no windows. Brooke slid in and Jonas took the seat opposite her. They ordered and then Jonas looked at her. Intently. She took a sip of water. “What is it?”

Time to start tearing down some walls. “I've just wondered about you. Running into you, seeing you occasionally only made me wonder more.”

“Wonder what?”

“Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?”

She didn't answer right away. Instead, she tilted her head and met him stare for stare. Finally, she shrugged. “You can ask. I won't promise I'll answer.”

“Fair enough.” The waitress interrupted with the serving of their order. When she left, he looked back Brooke. “Why haven't you ever married?”

* * *

Brooke froze. Well, he'd said it was a personal question. She cleared her throat. She didn't want to lie, but she didn't want to just lay the truth out there either. She offered what she hoped was a casual shrug. “I think I'm a career girl, Jonas.” She looked up and met his gaze. “I've spent the past fifteen years of my life preparing, training, learning and working. I've known exactly what I wanted to do ever since I saw an old rerun of Lassie rescuing Timmy.” She smiled. “I guess I just haven't let things like romance and marriage distract me.” Which was all true. It didn't mean she didn't wish things were different every once in a while, but she'd accepted that her lot in life was to be alone. No man wanted damaged goods.

“I think you were pretty tempted to be distracted way back when we first met,” he teased softly.

Thank goodness the waitress chose that moment to bring their food. Brooke ignored his statement and the only thing she could think to do was to bow her head to say a short silent blessing. And plead for a change of subject. She looked up to find Jonas's eyes on her. “Well?” he asked.

“Well what?”

“Come on, Brooke, admit it. You felt something for me years ago. Why did you push me away?”

“Why are you
pushing
this now?”

He hesitated. Then sighed. “Like I said, because I've always wondered. When we first met, we hit it right off. We became best friends and then when I wanted more, you threw up a wall and took off.”

“It wasn't you,” she whispered.

“I know. Or at least I do now. You said it was you, but at the time all I knew was you were crazy about me, too. Your rejection threw me for a loop.” He gave a short, humorless laugh. “I never would have had the guts to put myself out there and tell you how I felt if I hadn't been 100 percent sure you felt the same way. So why would you push me away?”

Her palms started to sweat. She really didn't want to have this conversation, but could tell he'd been waiting a long time to say these things. She glanced at the door, wanting to run, escape the memories, the what-might-have-beens had the car wreck never happened. Of course she might never have gone into law enforcement if not for the wreck. Then she never would have met Jonas. She swallowed, then cleared her throat. “I—”

“You broke my heart,” he said softly.

Brooke winced. “I—”

He shook his head, looked at his food then back at her. “Every time we'd bump into one another, I'd want to stop you and ask you these questions. I'm sorry I'm just blurting all this out. But seeing you again has resurrected all those old feelings, and I just want to know if this time could be different.”

Her phone rang, and she couldn't move. “Nothing like putting a girl on the spot,” she finally said. “You never did beat around the bush, did you?”

“No, not much. Still don't.” He gave a small smile as her phone rang again. “After being shot at and almost blown up these past couple of days, life has come into startling clear focus for me. Answer your phone and we'll finish this conversation after you've had a bit of time to process it.” He stood and wiped his mouth. “I see a client whose Boxer is scheduled to have surgery next week. I'll be right back.”

She grabbed the phone, knowing he was giving her some time to think and privacy to take her call. His thoughtfulness warmed her even while his words terrified her. For a number of reasons. Nicholas's number flashed on the screen. “Clark here.” Jonas walked away, his back straight, broad shoulders hinting at his strength.

“Hey, Brooke.”

“What's up?”

“We've got an appointment to talk to Congressman Jeffries in thirty minutes. Can you meet me at his house?”

“Of course. I'll leave now.”

“See you there.”

She hung up and caught Jonas's eye. He kept his conversation with his client brief, then moved toward her while she pulled some bills from her wallet. Most of their food sat untouched and she didn't have time to have it boxed up. It would take her every minute of the thirty allotted minutes to get to the congressman's house. “I've got to go,” she said. “Do you mind riding with me and waiting in the car?” She explained the call from Nicholas.

“I'll get Claire to pick me up,” he said. “You don't need me along.”

“You're sure?”

“I'm sure.”

“All right, thanks.” She snapped her fingers, and Mercy joined her at her side. She could feel Jonas's eyes on her all the way out the door and knew their conversation wasn't over. A ball of dread settled in her stomach that had nothing to do with finding a possible murderer. She'd rather face down a killer than talk about why she would never marry. That thought alone almost stopped her in her tracks. But she kept walking and thinking. And she realized she really hadn't dealt with her anguish over her inability to have children. She drew in a shuddering breath. She didn't have time to deal with her issues. She had a killer to catch.