Secret Agent Father (12 page)

Understanding hit hard. “You’re in danger, Alex. They wanted to kill you, too.”

He didn’t disagree. “I’ll call Rafe so he and Logan can help prepare for this meeting with Stephan. Unless you’ve changed your mind?”

“No. I haven’t changed my mind.”

Shelby could tell Alex wasn’t happy, even though he hid his feelings behind a brisk no-nonsense attitude. He and Logan had picked a busy restaurant as the
place for Shelby to meet Stephan. Logan was seated not far from their table while Rafe had stayed back at the hotel with Cody.

She and Alex were already seated in a booth when Stephan arrived. Trina’s husband looked awful, as if he hadn’t gotten any sleep since Trina’s murder.

“Thanks for meeting me,” Stephan said, sliding into the empty space across from them. Shelby was pinned in the corner of the booth, between Alex’s large frame and the wall of the restaurant. He glanced nervously at Alex. “Who’s your friend?”

“I’m with the federal government and Shelby’s in our protection,” Alex told him. “That’s all you need to know.”

Stephan didn’t seem too surprised to see a federal agent sitting beside Shelby. He ignored Alex and turned his attention to her. “How’s Cody?”

“He’s doing as well as can be expected,” Shelby answered.

Stephan nodded grimly. “I wanted to know what your plans were. I know he’s not my son, but I need to make sure someone is going to take formal custody of him.”

“Have you always known he wasn’t your son?” Shelby asked.

Stephan slowly nodded. “Yeah. I was upset at first, but I loved Trina. And we’d both made mistakes that were better left in the past.”

“You didn’t offer to adopt him?” Alex asked.

“No. Trina didn’t suggest it, so I didn’t offer.” Guilt flashed in Stephan’s gaze and she realized now why Trina had been happy to let Cody stay overnight with her so many times. Stephan was bothered by Cody’s presence. “He’s not a bad kid,” Stephan continued,
“but I didn’t want to be responsible for someone else’s son.”

Shelby could feel Alex tense up beside her, and she hastened to interject. “I’m going to request custody of Cody.”

Stephan looked relieved. “Good. I’m glad to hear that. It’s always been obvious to me how much you love him.”

“When was the last time you saw Trina?” Alex asked, changing the subject.

Stephan sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face, clearly exhausted. “The police have already taken my statement, why don’t you ask them?”

“Because I’m asking you.” Alex’s voice reminded her of steel wrapped in velvet. “Did you know about the drugs coming in on Jacobson ships?”

Stephan didn’t look surprised. “Yeah, I suspected there was something going on and stumbled upon the truth. I brought it up with Trina and she told me undercover agents were working on it, so I should keep my mouth shut.”

Shelby saw the flash of anger in his eyes. “Is that why you moved out?”

Stephan flushed guiltily and averted his gaze. “Yeah. I mean, I didn’t like the ways things were going. Trina was different, acting weird and frankly, I didn’t want to be dragged into danger.”

“Did Russ Jacobson know about the drugs?” Alex persisted.

Stephan shrugged. “I didn’t say anything to him, but I don’t know how he couldn’t. He knows everything that goes on in the shipyard.”

Shelby couldn’t believe Stephan had known about
the drugs coming in on her father’s ships. Seemed like everyone had known but her. Yet no matter what, she still couldn’t believe her father was guilty. There had to be some logical explanation. “When was the last time you saw Trina?” she asked.

“The night before she died.” Stephan’s expression was haggard. “I kept my mouth shut about the drugs, but that night I found a hidden stash in our bedroom. I was shocked and angry. I’d trusted Trina and didn’t want to believe she and her father were both a part of what was going on.”

“Then what happened?” Alex asked, when Stephan paused.

“I showed her the drugs and she went a little crazy. She told me that she had to leave, right away. She needed to take Cody over to Shelby’s place.” Stephan swallowed hard. “That was the last time I saw her alive.”

Shelby felt sick but forced herself to ignore the sensation as she glanced at Alex. “But she didn’t come straight to my place.”

“What time did she leave?” Alex wanted to know.

“After midnight, maybe close to one,” Stephan admitted.

“She didn’t call me until four in the morning,” she said, glancing at Alex. “Someone must have confronted her after she left Stephan, but before she called me. Why would she go to the shipyard with Cody in the backseat of her car?”

“Good question.” Alex turned toward Stephan. “Did you see anyone else that night?”

“No. But I did call the police. I couldn’t trust Trina to do the right thing, so I made the call.” Stephan’s face
twisted with remorse. “Only I was too late. Maybe if I’d have called earlier, the minute I suspected something was going on, Trina would still be alive today.”

“And you told all of this to the police?” Alex persisted.

Stephan gave a grim nod. “I had to. They were looking at me as a suspect. Only once they found out about the drugs, they closed her case. The official theory is that someone shot Trina because she stole their drugs. And they believe the shooter took all her jewelry as partial payment for the missing heroin.”

A
lex took Shelby’s hand in his, giving it a warning squeeze when he saw the flash of anger in her eyes. “I’m sure the drugs didn’t belong to Trina,” he said quickly before she could respond. “I think someone found out Trina was leaking information to us, and they hid the drugs in her room to cast suspicion on her.”

Stephan paled. “Is that what happened to her? She was killed because she wanted to help by giving information to the Feds?”

“I’m afraid so.” Alex didn’t like Stephan much. And he really, really didn’t like the guy’s attitude toward Cody. So what if the boy wasn’t his biological son? After spending the past four years with him, Stephan should have cared about Cody a little. Instead, he was trying to dump the kid onto Shelby before Trina had been given a proper burial.

A stab of guilt tightened his gut. Hadn’t he been tempted to do the same thing? Hand Cody over to Shelby because she’d made it clear how much she loved him? He swallowed hard and pushed his personal feelings aside to turn his attention to Stephan Kirkland and the matter at hand.

“I thought she might be guilty.” Stephan looked shocked. And slightly embarrassed for thinking the worst.

“She wasn’t,” Alex said. He leaned forward, planting his elbows on the table. “Okay, here’s how this is going to work. You are not going to tell anyone about this meeting, understand?” Alex pinned Stephan with a fierce gaze. “If anyone asks, you have not seen me or Shelby. Especially Shelby. You can say you’ve been trying to get in touch with her but she’s not returning your phone calls. Got it?”

Stephan gave a terse nod.

“And if you’re smart, you’ll start looking for another line of work.”

“What do you mean?” Stephan asked, shooting worried glances between Shelby and Alex. “Why do I have to look for another line of work? The marina isn’t involved in anything illegal, right? The drugs were only in the shipyard.”

Shelby stared at Stephan in shock. “Is that why you married my sister? For the marina?”

“No, of course not.” Stephan flushed beet red and Alex suspected Shelby’s question was closer to the truth than Stephan wanted to admit. “But I’ve dedicated my life to the marina. I’m not just going to walk away. Besides, if Russ Jacobson is going down, my skills will be needed to keep the marina running smoothly.”

Alex shrugged. He’d done his duty. Stephan’s decisions were his own. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Stephan glanced at Shelby. “So you’ll keep Cody? Is there any paperwork I have to sign? Do you want to stop by to pick up his things?”

“There isn’t any paperwork. Trina told me that she
didn’t list you as Cody’s father, so you’re off the hook,” Shelby said in a low voice.

“And no, she’s not going to stop by. He doesn’t need anything from you,” Alex added dismissively. “I’ll provide whatever Cody needs.”

Stephan narrowed his gaze. “He’s your son,” he accused.

He didn’t bother to deny it. “Get out of here,” he said, gesturing toward the door. “And remember, not a word about this meeting to anyone.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t want to be involved in this mess any more than I already am,” Stephan said with a trace of bitterness as he slid out from the booth. “Take care, Shelby.”

“Goodbye, Stephan.”

Alex glanced over at Logan, who’d finished his meal. At Alex’s nod, Logan tossed a handful of bills on the table to cover his tab and strode after Stephan, following him outside.

“Heroin,” Shelby whispered in a tortured tone. “I can’t believe heroin is being smuggled on my father’s ships.”

He understood what a shock it must have been, to hear the awful details of what had happened to Trina right before she was killed. If he could have sheltered Shelby from the harsh reality of drug smuggling, he would have. But it was too late now. “Try to remember how Trina was working to help us,” he murmured.

“I know,” she said in a strangled tone. She clasped her hands tightly in her lap. “Can we leave? I want to see Cody. I need to see Cody.”

“Stay here for a few more minutes,” he warned when
she pushed against him, indicating she wanted to get out. “When Logan returns it will be safe for us to leave.”

He could tell she was barely hanging on to her composure as they waited for Logan. When Alex saw his partner signal from the other side of the door, he slid out of the booth and offered a hand to Shelby.

She accepted his hand, her cold, clammy fingers tightening around his in a death grip. She stumbled a bit as she followed him out of the restaurant. Feeling helpless, wishing there was something he could do to make her feel better, he led the way outside.

Shelby might be in shock now, but this was nothing compared to what she was going to go through if it turned out her father really was the mastermind behind the drug running operation.

“Alex, my man, we have new intel on Marilyn, the mystery woman,” Logan said when he finally met up with them back at the hotel room.

Several hours had passed since they’d finished their meeting with Stephan Kirkland. Shelby seemed to be avoiding Alex, choosing instead to focus her energy on entertaining Cody with simple card games.

Alex wished he knew what she was thinking, but he was unable to read any hint of the thoughts going on behind her shadowed blue eyes. He dragged his gaze back to Rafe and Logan, who were both watching him curiously.

“You have an ID for her?” he asked. He was almost grateful when Shelby’s head snapped up to glance in their direction. He’d been concerned when she’d remained so distant and withdrawn.

“Yes, we do. Her real name is Roberta Gerard and
she’s originally from New York,” Logan announced reading from his notes. “Roberta’s quite the interesting lady. She was married to a Joseph Allenburg, a rich old guy who was thirty years her senior. When he died rather unexpectedly, Roberta was arrested for suspicion of murder. But she was eventually released, all charges dropped when the autopsy revealed Joseph Allenburg died of natural causes.”

“So she makes a habit of marrying older men, but doesn’t necessarily do anything to hasten their demise,” Rafe mused.

“That we know of,” Alex muttered darkly. He wouldn’t put anything past her.

“That’s not all,” Logan spoke up. “Her criminal record before that marriage, which lasted about two years, also includes being arrested for prostitution, possession of heroin and selling drugs.” Logan shrugged. “Could be she decided marrying old men was an easier way to make money. Or she’s more involved in the drug smuggling than we realized.”

“So it’s possible she’s in on the whole thing. The timing fits. She came to Green Bay right about the time when drugs started showing up on the ships. Maybe marrying a rich guy like Russ Jacobson was icing on the cake.” Alex glanced at Shelby who had grown pale as they discussed possible theories. “So who is she working with? Is it a mere coincidence that she left Russ the same day Bobby Drake showed up dead? And why was she meeting Mayor Flynn at the pub, looking upset?”

“We can try showing Cody the mayor’s picture, see if he recognizes him,” Logan drawled. “If he’s the bad
guy, then we’ll know how she’s involved. The two of them could be in on it together.”

“Yeah, or else she was involved with Bobby Drake and is worried about her own fate now that he’s dead. Or she could be involved with someone else that we haven’t thought of yet.” Alex let out a deep, heavy sigh. “All right. Let’s show Cody the picture. See what happens.”

Rafe and Logan glanced at each other and nodded. Rafe pulled out a newspaper article. “I have a photograph right here. It’s a close-up of the mayor’s face.”

Alex took the photograph and smoothed it out on the table. Shelby and Cody had just completed their game of Go Fish. “Cody? Would you come here for a minute?”

“Sure.” Cody eagerly scrambled to his feet. Shelby followed, her expression grim.

He understood her trepidation and tried to smile reassuringly. He pulled Cody onto his lap and tapped the picture on the table. “Do you know this guy?”

Cody scrunched up his face and shook his head. “No.”

Alex frowned. “Are you sure?”

Cody nodded. “I’m sure. Will you play cards with us?” he asked, his attention clearly not on the photograph.

“Ah, maybe in a little while.” He glanced at Rafe and Logan who both shrugged. Cody either hadn’t seen the bad guy’s face or the mayor wasn’t involved.

But that didn’t leave Marilyn off the hook.

Alex threaded his hands through his hair in sheer frustration. There had to be a way to break this case open. There just had to be.

“Cody, why don’t you go play in your room for a while?” Shelby said softly.

Alex glanced over, noticing Cody looked like he
might argue, but the boy finally did as he was told. He slid off his lap, landing on the floor. She waited until he was in the other room before turning toward him. “If you suspect Marilyn is involved, doesn’t that mean my father is innocent?”

“I don’t know, Shelby.” He stared at her for a moment. The threads of this case were so tangled, he couldn’t be absolutely sure of anything. “Maybe. For your sake, I hope he is innocent. Obviously he’s not Cody’s bad man. And I will admit, I can’t imagine Russ Jacobson giving the order to have his own daughter murdered.”

“Exactly.” Shelby’s tone was full of satisfaction. “It’s very easy for me to believe Marilyn is guilty. I never liked her much anyway. And the more I think about her being involved with Cody’s bad man, the more I’m convinced my father could be innocent.”

Alex wished he could agree. “Or maybe your father discovered she was involved in the drug smuggling but kept quiet because he loved her.”

Shelby’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you insist on believing the worst about him? I thought we just agreed he’d never harm Trina?”

Alex glanced away. His gut instincts weren’t easy to explain. He just didn’t have a good feeling about Jacobson.

Rafe spoke up. “I think we have to consider that Cody’s bad man might have been working on his own, crossing the line when he attacked Trina.”

Alex followed the line of Rafe’s logic. “Which means, it’s possible Jacobson is the ringleader, and knows who’s guilty of killing his daughter. If that’s true, then maybe Trina’s death means the plan has changed and now he’s going to pin the whole operation on the
murderer.” Abruptly, the puzzle pieces fell nicely into place. “Taking Marilyn down with him.”

He heard Shelby suck in a harsh breath. He wanted to go to her, to put a supporting arm around her shoulders. Yet despite their almost kiss earlier that afternoon, he knew his presence wouldn’t be welcome.

Not anymore.

Everything had changed after the meeting with Stephan. For the first time, Shelby was being forced to seriously consider her father’s guilt. Even Stephan had believed Jacobson to be involved in the drug smuggling. And there was nothing Alex could say to soften the blow.

She might claim her father wasn’t a murderer, but in his opinion, anyone helping to put drugs into the hands of children was exactly that. A murderer. His best friend Toby’s death was only one example. There were hundreds and thousands more.

Alex curled the fingers of his injured hand, flexing the damaged muscles. He planned on bringing the man responsible to justice. He’d do whatever was necessary to break the cycle of drugs and death. Even arrest Shelby’s only living parent.

Yet he also knew, no matter how unfair it was, that if he did so, Shelby would always look at him as the man who’d arrested her father and Cody’s grandfather.

Seeking justice could mean losing the woman he was beginning to fall in love with.

Shelby sat by Cody’s side long after he’d fallen asleep. Despite her own bone-weary exhaustion, her mind kept replaying the conversation with Stephan over and over in her mind.

Finally she knelt beside her bed, and opened her heart and her mind to prayer.

Heavenly Father, help me to see the truth, Your truth. If my father is guilty of this horrible crime, give me the strength to do whatever is necessary to keep us all safe. Please, Lord, guide Alex, too. Help him to keep his mind open to all possibilities. I trust You, Lord, to show him the way. Amen.

With her heart and her soul at peace, she finally slept.

The next morning, she awoke early, feeling well rested and anxious to do something. Being in the hotel suite with Alex and Rafe made her feel safe. But since Trina’s funeral wasn’t until tomorrow, she feared the day would drag by excruciatingly slow.

Silently, so she wouldn’t wake Cody, she washed up in the bathroom and then paused near the doorway leading into the general living area. She could hear two male voices talking. She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but couldn’t help herself when she heard her name.

“Shelby’s never going to forgive me,” Alex said.

“You underestimate her faith, my friend,” Rafe countered. “She knows you don’t mean her any harm.”

“Yeah.” Alex let out a harsh sound. “But that doesn’t exactly change the outcome, now, does it? I’m hurting her even though I don’t mean to.”

“If her father is guilty, he’s the one at fault,” Rafe pointed out. “Not you.”

“It doesn’t matter much either way. I’m still the guy who’s going to help bring him down.” Alex’s agonized tone wrenched her heart.

Shame washed over her, causing her to turn away from the doorway. She’d been so upset about the recent turn in
events that she’d misled Alex into believing she blamed him. And she knew very well that none of this was his fault. She’d come to him for help and he’d gone above and beyond, especially during the snowstorm. It was her own problem if her father happened to be involved.

She took a step toward Alex, wanting to go to him, to reassure him that she didn’t blame him at all, when Cody cried out in his sleep.

“Mama!” Shelby hurried to his side, where he thrashed around in the bed. “Mama!”

“Shh, Cody. It’s okay. I’m here with you,” she crooned, gathering him close so he wouldn’t hurt himself with his flailing arms and legs.

He continued to cry, so she rocked him in her arms, murmuring words of comfort. She wasn’t surprised when the door opened farther and Alex stood in the doorway.