Old Flames Never Die (Valentine Mystery) (4 page)

~~~~

At nine-thirty, Jack and Tess walked
into the Jefferson Tavern Police Station, just as Liv's interview finished.

“Jack? Tess? What are you doing here?
It's not because of me, is it?” Liv asked.

“Don't worry about it, Liv,” Jack said.

“I didn't tell them anything,” she said.

Tess winced. That sounded a little like
a conspiracy.

“I mean I had to answer their questions
about us, but it was so long ago. I can't imagine what they want to ask you.”

“I don't know either,” he said.

“This is just crazy,” Liv said. She
turned to the man standing beside her. “Can you do something?”

“I can't dictate how the police do their
business,” he said shaking his head. “Hello, Tess. Thanks for the referral.”

Tess nodded. “Jack, this is Lance Gray.
He works with Tom. Lance, this is Jack Valentine.”

The two men shook hands. “How did it go?”
Jack asked.

“Like police work,” Lance said. “They're
scrambling to pin this on Mrs. Danforth, but she's got a solid alibi.”

Daniel entered the waiting area. “We're
ready for you.”

“I'm so sorry for dragging you into
this, Jack,” Liv said.

Jack waved her concern away. With a hand
on Tess' back he said, “Ready?”

~~~~

Jack and Tess took a seat in the
interrogation room. Daniel's partner, Sam Collier, sat at the table, but Daniel
stayed standing. Jack got the impression he was uncomfortable. He couldn't
imagine why. It wasn't his sordid love life about to be put into a police
record.

“We just have a few questions regarding
Mrs. Danforth. You probably know about Mr. Danforth,” Sam said.

Jack nodded his head.

“What is your relationship with Mrs.
Danforth?”

Jack rolled his shoulders and took a
breath. “She's an old girlfriend.” Normally he might have elaborated on the
fact that he hadn't seen nor spoken to her in a year, but Tess was a stickler
about answering only the question that was asked.

“When was that?”

“A little over a year ago.”

“Did you know she was married?”

“How is that relevant?” Tess cut in.

“We just want to know what Liv told him
about her marital status at the time.”

Tess nodded to Jack. “She told me she
was separated and planning to divorce.”

“So you knew she was married?” Sam asked
again. Jack looked to Daniel, whose eyes were on Tess. But he didn't see gloat
in Daniel’s expression. He saw discomfort.

“He told you what she said,” Tess
interjected.

“And where were you last Saturday at 1:00
p.m.?”

Jack hadn't expected that and a quick
glance to Tess told him she hadn't either. Jack realized that this meeting
wasn't just about getting information about Liv. They wanted to interrogate him
for Charles Danforth's murder.

“I was having lunch with a friend in
Washington.”

“D.C.?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have receipts?”

“I can get them. Or you can call Brad
Chancellor. He'll confirm my itinerary for the entire weekend.”

“What about March 5th? Were you in
Washington then too?”

Jack frowned. “Yes. Tess and I were both
there the first week of March.”

“Interesting that you and Mrs. Danforth
were in Washington at the same time.”

“So was the president.”

“When was the last time you saw Mrs.
Danforth?” Sam continued on.

“You mean besides two minutes ago? Last
night. She and Ms. Madison and I had dinner together.”

“Why?”

“Why?”

“For what reason?”

“We're old friends.” Jack was now
thinking he might have preferred to have Daniel leading the interrogation.

“You brought your current lover to
dinner with a former lover…?”

“Collier,” Daniel's voice warned.

Jack looked to Tess. Had Daniel just
pulled the reins on Sam?

“She was distraught over Charles' death
and wanted to get out.” Jack explained.

“With an old flame?”

“We concede that Mr. Valentine and Mrs.
Danforth had a relationship over a year ago, but that isn't relevant to this
case,” Tess said.

“Did she ever call you over the last
year?”

“No.”

“How about March 5th?”

“No.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Jack felt Tess' hand on his thigh. “Did
Liv say something?” she asked.

Daniel stepped forward. He reached for a
paper in front of Sam and pushed it toward them. “Cell phone call from Liv to
Jack on the 5th.”

Jack felt a panic in his gut. How was it
possible that it could happen again? He was being accused of murder on evidence
he knew nothing about. “I never—”

Tess' hand tightened on his thigh as she
scanned the document. “This call is too short to suggest they talked.” She
pushed the paper back to Sam.

“What about voicemail?” Sam asked.

Jack shook his head. “I didn't have a
message from her.”

“And I'm sure your tech guys could
verify that,” Tess said.

“You didn't notice it on your missed calls
list?”

“Maybe. But if someone doesn't think
their call is important enough to leave a message, then I figure it's not
important enough for me to call back. I can tell you I don't recognize that
number.”

“Would you have called her if—”

“That's not relevant.”

“That's all we need for now,” Daniel
stepped forward again. “Thank you for your time.”

Sam didn't look happy about Daniel's
interference, but didn't press.

Jack helped Tess from her chair and led
her out. Neither said anything until they got outside.

“Tess, I never got a call from her until
yesterday.”

“I know.” He searched her eyes to make
sure he didn't see the shadow of the walls or the fear that lingered there when
she doubted him. He only saw confusion and worry.

“Tess, Jack.”

Jack turned to see Daniel coming toward
them. Jack readied himself to speak his mind, but Tess' hand on his arm stopped
him.

“I'm sorry about that,” Daniel said.

“What was that?” Tess asked.

Daniel shrugged. “I can't go into
details, but let's just say Sam is being thorough.”

“And you couldn't stop him?” Jack asked.

“He's the lead. And thorough. I remember
a few months ago, Tess was asking us to be more thorough.”

“That was ridiculous,” Tess said.

“I figured you never took the call.
We'll call Mr. Chancellor and Jack will be cleared,” Daniel said.

“Cleared! So I am a suspect?”

“She has an alibi,” Tess explained. “Which
means someone else killed Charles. But since they suspect her, they're looking
at people who are or were close to her who might have killed him for her.”

Daniel nodded.

“Jesus,” Jack scoffed.

“Once we clear it up, you won't be
bothered. But I would recommend staying away from Mrs. Danforth.” Daniel's
phone beeped. He looked at the screen then said, “I've gotta run.”

Tess linked her arm through Jack's as
they started towards the car.

“Amazing. How do we get involved in
these things?”

“We?” Tess asked. “You. You get
involved. I'm just along as the sidekick.”

He grinned down on her, glad that she
was able to make light of the situation.

“Maybe when all the craziness with the
Worthingtons and Liv is done, we can take a little trip. How about a long
weekend in the mountains?” Jack said.

“I'd rather go to a beach,” Tess said.

“We can go to Virginia Beach,” he said,
imagining Tess in a bikini.

“I was thinking along the lines of
Aruba.”

“We could, except it involves flying,”
he said, as they stopped and waited for the light to turn green.

“So?”

“I don't fly.”

Tess turned to look up at him.” Why?”

“Airplanes defy logic. They're like
bumblebees.”

Tess laughed. Just a little at first,
but it soon swelled.

“It's not funny,” Jack said tightly.

“It's pretty funny.”

“Lots of people don't like to fly.”

“It's safer than driving.”

“It doesn't matter what I know. It only
matters how I feel,” he said, abruptly guiding her into the intersection to
cross the street.

“Don't you ever have to fly to business
meetings?”

“Not since I hired people to do that for
me.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “I
would have never guessed you had a phobia.”

“It's not nice to make fun of people's shortcomings.”

“I'm sorry,” she said, but Jack could
tell she was still more amused than sympathetic. “I just thought with all the
money and time you have, travel would be top on your list.”

When he stepped up on the curb, he
stopped and turned her to him. “If it was really important to you, I might be
able to…possibly…” But jeez, just the thought of flying made his heart
jackhammer in his chest.

“You know, they have great chocolate in
Europe.”

“Which I can buy here,” he stated
flatly.

 She gave him a slow, coy smile. “You'll
never join the mile high club if you don't fly.”

That had another part of his body
responding. He gave her an anguished look. “You're killing me, you know that?”

She waggled her brows. “It could be fun.”

“In theory, yes, except that with all
the medicinal help I need to fly, I don't think I could perform adequately.”

“Oh well,” she sighed.

He took her hand as they continued
toward the car. “Perhaps I can offer you something else.”

“We're in public now.”

He gave her an annoyed look. “I meant
other than that.”

“But I like that.”

He'd created a monster. An alluring,
sexy monster, but a monster nonetheless. “How about the Outer Banks? It has a
beach, but we can drive.”

“How about Okracoke? We can search for
pirate treasure.”

They reached Tess' car and Jack opened
the door for her, but he blocked her from getting in. “There's only one
treasure I want to find.”

“You'd think you'd have found it by now.”
She rose up on her toes and planted a kiss on his lips.

“It's never enough,” he laughed. “But
before we can go, I've got to get things settled with the Worthingtons.”

“And you probably want to hang around
for Liv.”

Jack nodded and hoped Tess wouldn't be
upset about it. “It sounds like Daniel's partner would like me to stick around
as well.”

“I don't know how you managed it Jack, but
in less than three months you have gotten yourself involved in two murder investigations.”

He grinned. “Life is one adventure after
another.”

It was not turning out to be a good day,
Jack thought. Summoned for a police interview, airing his dirty laundry to his nemesis
and then watching Tess drive off to rebuild her old house when she had a
perfectly fine home with him. Now he sat at his desk at the Worthington
building recovering from Lauren Worthington's demand that he implement her plan
that would lay off hundreds of employees. But now he had a minute to breathe
before diving into financial statements.

The intercom beeped. “You have a call,
Mr. Valentine. A Ms. Danforth.”

Jack rolled his eyes. Would it ever
stop? “Thank you, Mrs. Stauffer.” Jack picked up the phone. “This is Jack
Valentine.”

“Jack?”

The voice on the other end quivered. “Liv?
What's wrong?”

“They're destroying my home.”

“Who is?”

“The police. They barged in here and
started ransacking the place. I know you're working, but can you come over?”

“Do they have a warrant?”

“I guess. I don't know. It's all mumbo
jumbo to me.”

“Did you call the lawyer Tess
recommended?” Jack tried to remember his name. Lance something.

“I haven't had the chance. I don't
understand why this is happening. Please, Jack. I have no one else. Can you
please come over now?”

“Yeah, sure. I'll be right there.” But
when Jack hung up the phone, he didn't immediately get up to leave. Liv needed
a lawyer. He thought about asking Tess to step in just in this one instance, but
immediately dismissed it. Despite his feelings of obligation to Liv, he
understood that asking Tess to help would put them all in an awkward position,
especially considering Tess' feelings about the murder. But the police were
focused on Liv as a suspect, which meant she really needed a lawyer. He stood
and grabbed his coat from the back of the chair. He'd go to Liv's, try to calm
her down and then get her to call Lance the lawyer.