When a Secret Kills (19 page)

“When you were processing the parking lot, did you pick up a piece of paper? It looked like it might be an invitation to one of the events going on in the hotel tonight.”

Rick didn’t say anything for a minute and Colton pictured the man thinking, his receding hairline exposing extra wrinkles in his tanned forehead. “I don’t remember it, but maybe one of my team did. Let me check with them and get back to you.”

“Thanks.” Colton hung up and filled Hunter in.

“Nothing more to do here then.”

“Yeah.” He couldn’t help the disgust. Finally a solid lead and they couldn’t find it. “We just can’t catch a break,” he muttered.

Hunter shrugged. “No one’s died yet.”

Shame swept over him. “True. You’re absolutely right. Guess God’s got his hand on this and I’m not saying ‘thank you’ near enough.”

Hunter clapped him on the back. “He knows. Come on, let’s get Jillian back to the hotel room and call it a night.”

Colton sighed. “I guess the next step in this dance is to talk to the Pikes.”

Hunter nodded. “The Pikes and your uncle.”

“I’ll set it up.”

“And I want to go with you,” Jillian insisted.

“Of course you do.”

Colton activated his bluetooth as he pulled into the lake house drive. He was determined to check out his uncle’s boat. Dominic’s voice came on. “Alexia and I are still here. They had to take Dad back into surgery and it’s touch and go right now.”

“How’s Alexia handling everything?”

“Fairly well. She’s trying to be strong for our mom, but I can tell she’s really battling to forgive the man.” A heavy sigh came over the line. “I have to admit I’m in the same boat. But hey—there’s no connection between Nicholas Tremaine and your uncle. At least none that I can find.”

Relief darted through Colton. At least that was one positive. While Dominic talked, he walked around the side of his uncle’s house to look out over the lake. Surprise rocked him back on his heels. “I don’t believe this. It’s gone!”

“What?”

“The boat is gone.”

“Your uncle’s?”

“Yeah.”

“You think he moved it because he had it freshly painted?”

“How would he know—” He broke off as he remembered his
conversation with his aunt. “I asked Aunt Elizabeth if Frank had had the boat painted recently.”

“You think she told him?”

Sorrow, regret, anger, and frustration swirled inside him. “What else am I supposed to think?”

“We need to talk to your uncle ASAP.”

“Tell me about it.” But one didn’t just send a couple of uniforms to bring in a high-profile politician. He’d have to get the highest brass in the department and probably involve the feds too. No, he needed absolute, solid evidence before that happened. And he didn’t have that. Was he even being objective about this? And how would he ever face his mom again? If he was involved in destroying his mother’s brother, their already-strained relationship would most likely be severed. Colton swallowed hard as he processed exactly how this would affect his family.

His phone beeped and he looked at the screen. “Hey, let me get this other call. It’s Rick. Just take care of your dad. We’ve got this covered.”

“All right. Let me know when you find the boat.”

Colton clicked over to the other line. “Hey, Rick.”

“Colton, how would you like to know what we’ve got so far?”

“Lay it on me.”

He listened as Rick ran down the evidence he’d finished processing. “Found your piece of paper from last night.”

“What’s on it?”

“It was an invitation. Right now I’ve got fingerprints of a woman by the name of Celia Brown, the one who mailed the invitations. Another partial print I haven’t identified yet and a couple of smudges. Sorry, not much here.”

“Well, we’ve got the guest list and everyone who showed up. We’ve got officers working those names.” Colton rubbed a hand down his cheek as he thought about the time that would take.

“Good.” Rick paused. “Your shooter seems pretty determined.”

“I know. All these attempts. It’s amazing she’s still alive. God’s really having to keep his protection around her.”

Rick grunted. “Whatever the case, we haven’t got much of anything that’s going to tie us to the person after Jillian. Your best shot is the DNA sample of the blood on the drive. Get me a suspect to match it to.”

Colton blew out a breath. “Right.”

Rick hung up and Colton stared at the dock where the boat was supposed to be. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. “What have you done, Uncle Frank?”

10:04 AM

Colton stepped inside his captain’s office and sat down with a sigh.

“What’s on your mind, Brady?”

Colton rubbed a hand down his face, then laced his fingers together in front of him. “I’ve got a problem.”

“I don’t like problems. I’m too close to retirement and I don’t want any problems for the next two months.”

“Yeah, me neither. But you’re going to have to help me with this one.”

Murdoch’s silvery mustache quivered. “I’m not letting you out of going to Rick’s seminar.”

Colton blinked, then choked on a chuckle. “Ah. Right.”

“Not even for a set of World Series tickets.”

Colton froze and narrowed his eyes. “Who’s the blabbermouth?”

“I have my sources.”

Colton pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. Then Murdoch said, “All right, lay it on me.”

Colton’s frown returned. “I have a report from an eyewitness that our former governor didn’t die in a car wreck ten years ago. She says she saw him murdered.”

The captain barked a short laugh. “What psych ward did she escape from?”

Colton held the man’s gaze. “I believe her.”

Murdoch’s eyes widened. Then hardened. “Go on.”

Colton gave him the details. Before he was finished, the captain was pacing from one end of his office to the other. When he reached the far window, he spun and said, “You have any proof?”

Colton hesitated. “No, but I have a way to get it—only you’re probably not going to like it.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

Colton gave him a small smile and explained what he needed. In the middle of his captain’s choking, Colton’s phone buzzed. He stood and slipped it from his pocket. “Hello?”

“Hello, son.”

“Uncle Frank.” Surprise lifted his right brow. He hadn’t checked the caller ID before answering the phone. “Are you all right after last night? You disappeared pretty fast after the bullets started flying.”

“Security got me and the whole campaign crew out of there lightning fast.”

“You’ve got a good team working for you.”

“Indeed I do.”

“But that’s not what you called about.”

A short silence echoed across the line, then his uncle said, “I guess we need to have a chat.”

“I guess we do.”

“It’s not what you’re thinking, Colton.”

This time Colton was quiet for a few seconds while he debated whether or not he believed the man. “Then let’s talk it out and you can tell me exactly what it is.”

“I’d like the chance to do that.”

“When?”

“Now?”

Colton hesitated. He wanted to see the Pikes first, get their
story, before he talked with Frank. The truth was a slippery thing these days, and he needed every advantage. “I’ve got a stop I have to make first.”

“Where are you going?”

“To question another witness.”

“From last night?”

“No.” Colton shifted. “Sorry, Uncle Frank, but you know I can’t discuss this with you. Where do you want to meet?”

“My office?”

“At your house or the Capitol?”

“Never mind. It’s about 10:30 now. How long will your appointment take?”

Colton thought about it. “I’m not sure. I have the stop to make. Then probably an hour, hour and a half, with the witness. Can you do a late lunch?”

“1:00 at The Blue Marlin on Lincoln Street?”

“See you there.”

Colton hung up to find his captain staring at him. “Any other problems you need to let me in on?”

A sigh left him. “I’m probably going to have to take myself off this case.”

His captain lifted a brow. “Why’s that?”

“Because if the evidence points in the direction it seems to be pointing, it’s going to be a conflict of interest for me to continue.”

“How’s that evidence pointing now?”

Colton met the man’s eyes. “What do you think?”

“You have no proof indicating your uncle was involved in anything illegal?”

“Not a speck of it. Just . . . suspicions.” And a missing boat.

“Then you don’t have to recuse yourself yet, but the moment you do—”

“I know. As soon as I do, I’ll remove myself, that’s a promise.”

“See that you keep it. I’ll start your order.”

Colton called the Pikes from the hotel. “I’ll be there in about forty-five minutes.”

Jillian walked out of her room and Colton blinked at the sight. He’d gotten kind of used to seeing her as a brunette. But he couldn’t deny the effect she had on him no matter what she looked like. She had her blond curls pulled up in a scrunchy and was wearing a shirt he recognized as Serena’s.

She planted her hands on her hips, wincing as her left hand made contact, and asked, “Where are we going?”

Colton sighed. “Jillian, please let me handle this.”

“I am. But I can’t be left behind. I
need
to go with you.”

“It’s too dangerous, Jillian.”

“Colton . . .”

He stared at her when she stopped. “What?”

Her lips twisted and she studied him. “I’m sorry.”

That caught his attention. “About what?”

Her eyes slid from his. “Everything. Leaving. Not getting in touch after I left, coming back . . .” She waved a hand as she ran out of words.

Colton felt the familiar shaft of pain he’d lived with for ten years. “I get it, Jillian. I don’t like it, but you may have saved your life by doing what you did.” He shook his head. “It’s in the past. Let’s leave it there.”

She opened her mouth as though to argue—or say something else. Then she seemed to think better of it and said, “So, you’re okay with me going to the Pikes’?”

Colton thought about it. “Maybe. I don’t know. If you stay here, we’ll need security at the hotel—which we have with Blake, and I can get Slade to come over. I don’t like the idea of you going to the Pikes’ house.”

“You think I’ll bring danger to them?”

“If whoever is after you sees you, yes, maybe.”

She winced. “I definitely don’t want to do that.”

“Then again,” Blake said from the door to the other bedroom, “if somehow whoever is after Jillian has discovered she’s here at the hotel, he could just be waiting for you to leave to strike.”

Colton lifted a brow. “So you think she should come?”

The man hesitated. “I think there’s safety in numbers.”

Colton shot a pointed look at Jillian’s left arm. “He almost got her last night in a crowd of people.”

“True.” Blake ran a hand over his freshly shaven jaw. “He’s getting desperate.”

“Which makes him incredibly dangerous.” He looked at Jillian. “I think you’d be safer here.” He paused. “Then again, I thought you’d be safe at the lake house.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes as he thought. “No,” he finally said. “You have to stay here with Blake. We simply can’t take the chance on you putting the Pikes in danger.”

Jillian frowned. “Fine, but I don’t like it.”

Colton gave her a sad smile. “We’re not in this to keep you happy, Jilly, we’re in it to keep you safe.”

After Colton and Hunter left, Jillian stared out the hotel window as she processed her racing thoughts. She’d slept little the night before, tossing and turning, dreaming about Meg falling into the hands of the people who were determined to kill her and keep her quiet.

But she’d told.

She’d shared her story with people who believed her, they just needed time to prove it. And that was the reason she knew she was still a target. She was the one who’d seen the murder. An eyewitness to something that had been covered up for a decade. And now she was here to shed the light, to expose the truth.

The other very serious truth she’d kept hidden also had to be exposed. She had to tell Colton about Meg and today was the day to come clean. Soon.

Dread centered itself in her stomach. She was more worried about telling Colton about Meg than she was being a target of a killer.

“Jilly?”

She looked over her shoulder. Blake stood behind her. The smirk on his face made her want to smack him. “It’s a nickname from high school.”

“I can’t imagine you letting anyone get away with calling you Jilly.”

“Shut up.” She kept her tone mild.

He chuckled, then sobered. “That’s why you picked the name Julie.”

She spun. “What?”

“Julie. Jilly. They’re not so different.”

“They are too,” she sputtered. “You’re crazy.”

“Liar. You like the name Jilly, because Colton gave it to you.”

“Do not.” She sounded like a three-year-old.

“Do too,” he taunted.

A fraction of the tension left her shoulders and she burst out laughing. “Okay, maybe you’re right.” She threw up her hands. “Who knows what I was thinking during those first few days on the run.” She sighed. “Maybe it was a subconscious decision.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “But you may not call me that. Ever.” His eyes sparked and she knew he’d call her that at some point. “I’m glad I never had any brothers. You’re so annoying.”

“I live to serve.” He frowned. “So, what are you thinking about?”

“Everything. And it’s all jumbled in my mind.”

“Yeah. I know what you mean.”

“Gerald Benjamin did the autopsy of Governor Martin.”

“Right.”

“Benjamin and Pike were friends who’d planned to get together to go fishing at a place Benjamin had sprayed for bees. And yet he was stung repeatedly, his epi-pen untouched in the unopened cooler.”

“Murder.”

“Definitely. And premeditated at that.”

“And you think Senator Hoffman had something to do with that murder too?”

She sighed and turned back to the window. “I have no idea. I just know that I want this over with. I want my life and my daughter back.”

“And you want Colton back.”

Jillian flinched and kept her eyes on the window. Then shrugged. “Yes. I want Colton back.”

Colton’s phone rang and he answered it as he and Hunter walked up the steps to the Pikes’ front door. “Hey, Katie, if it can wait, let me call you back.”

“Sure. No problem.”

Conrad Pike answered a few seconds after Colton rapped his knuckles on the wooden door. A handsome man in his early sixties with a full head of salt-and-pepper hair smiled. His blue eyes crinkled at the corners.

“Come in,” he said and held the door open for them.

Colton stepped inside the spacious home and took in the details. Mr. Pike led them to a cozy den area that reminded Colton of his own house. A lot of wood and a deer head over the mantel. The brick fireplace held gas logs. Fortunately the air-conditioning worked well.

Once they were seated and introductions made, Conrad asked, “So ten years later you decide Gerald’s death warrants looking into?”

Colton leaned forward. “Yes, sir. We’ve had some new evidence come to light that suggests his death wasn’t an accident.”

“I’ve said that all along. Just couldn’t prove it.” He narrowed his eyes. “Can you?”

“That’s what we’re working on.”

The man’s shrewd gaze drilled him. “What have you found?”

“An eyewitness. It appears we’re getting too close for comfort for someone. We’re not sure what it is yet, but it’s obviously making someone nervous and he’s made several attempts to kill her. She’s in protective custody right now.” Colton paused. “Did you receive any threats after Gerald died?”

That got the man’s attention. “Threats? No. Why?”

“Because his wife did.”

He leaned back with a heavy sigh. “Ah. Well, that explains a lot.”

“She never mentioned them?”

Pike shook his head. “No, not a word, but every time I brought up Gerald’s death, she’d get skittish and shut me down.”

“Too scared,” Hunter murmured.

“Where’s Mrs. Pike?” Colton asked.

“Babysitting our grandchildren. We have two,” he said as his chest puffed out a bit.

“Did Mr. Benjamin say anything to you about the death of Governor Martin?”

Mr. Pike flinched. “Harrison?”

“You were friends with him?”

“Yes.” He shrugged. “Not best pals or anything like that, but we saw each other at a lot of social functions and I respected him as the governor. I thought he was doing an outstanding job. Harrison’s death was a tragedy for our state.”

“Did Gerald say anything about the autopsy?”

Mr. Pike frowned and thought. “Not that I recall. Why?”

“Did you notice any changes in his behavior after the governor’s death?”

The man shook his head. “No.” He paused. “Well, yes. He was stressed, but I think that was about the time his daughter was so sick. Needed a kidney transplant. I just figured that’s why he seemed so out of sorts.”

“But he never said anything that got your attention about anything he was doing at work.”

“No. Nothing.”

Colton sighed. This was going nowhere fast. He questioned the man about the day the ME died, and Mr. Pike’s story matched the one they’d gotten from Gerald’s wife. “Just one last question,” Colton said. “Do you know where Gerald would have gotten the fifty thousand dollars he used to pay toward his daughter’s kidney transplant?”

Pike lifted a brow. “Seems like he said something about borrowing it from his wife’s parents.” A shrug. “He died shortly after that.” He rubbed his chin. “Such a shame. Two good men gone within weeks of each other.” He narrowed his eyes. “You think there’s a connection?”

“We’re trying to figure that out. Can you give us a connection?”

Pike pressed his lips together while he thought, then said, “Gerald and the governor were high school buddies. I think they even roomed together in college for a year or two before Gerald went to med school. Gerald was devastated when Harrison was killed.”

Colton’s brain whirled as he processed everything.

Hunter asked, “When you found Gerald at the lake, he was already dead. Did anything stand out to you as . . . abnormal?”

“Other than the fact that my friend was dead? Stung by dozens of bees that never should have been in that area because he had it sprayed on a regular basis? And his epi-pen was still in the cooler?”

“Yeah. Other than that.”

Pike rubbed his face and sighed. “No. Not really. But it didn’t feel right. The whole thing was just . . . wrong. Everything—the email, the lack of communication with Gerald that morning. Everything. I took it to the authorities and they shut me down.”

They talked with Pike a few minutes longer, but learned nothing more. After thanks and goodbyes, Colton and Hunter left.

Once in the car, Colton asked, “You get the feeling he knows more than he does?”

“No. You?”

“No.” Disgusted, he cranked the car and turned the air-conditioning on full blast with a glance at the clock. “Maybe my uncle will have something enlightening to share with me. I’ll drop you at the hotel to get your car and check on Jillian for me.”

Hunter nodded. “You need backup at lunch?”

Colton pursed his lips, the fact that Hunter even felt the need to ask bothering him. “No. He wouldn’t hurt me.”

And yet the niggling of doubt he heard in his voice made him wonder if he believed that anymore.

Colton approached the restaurant, his eyes darting, watching, being careful not to assume anything anymore. Would his uncle set him up? Tell him he’d meet him for lunch, then have someone waiting to take him out?

A sigh slipped from him. Paranoia didn’t feel good, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. His uncle’s reaction at the hotel, then his utter shock at seeing Jillian, convinced him the man knew something, even if he wasn’t directly responsible for the governor’s death. But Colton still didn’t have any proof either way.

Inside the restaurant, he flashed his badge. “I’m meeting Senator Hoffman. Do you mind if we use your back room?”

“Of course.” The waitress smiled and grabbed two menus. She led the way and motioned to him to pick his seat. He did. Back to the wall, in full view of the door.

She handed him the menu and placed the other at the seat opposite him. “Someone will be with you in just a moment.”

Colton waited ten minutes before he started to wonder if his uncle was going to stand him up. He called Katie as he waited.

She answered on the first ring.

“What do you have?”

“The fifty grand deposited into Gerald Benjamin’s account did come from the Vances, but Mr. Vance finally broke down and told me the truth.”

“What’s that?”

“Gerald gave the couple fifty thousand in cash. Told them it was to pay for Tracy’s kidney, but he couldn’t have the money traced back to him as cash. He asked if they would deposit the money from their retirement fund into his checking account, and if anyone asked where the money came from, he would say his in-laws.”

“And they just accepted that?”

“No, but when they asked questions, Gerald wouldn’t tell them anything, just said that if they cared about Tracy, they’d do it.”

“So they did.”

“Yeah. Everything was totally legit on the surface. They just put that fifty thousand in cash back in the bank a little at a time over the next six or seven years so as not to arouse any suspicion.”

Colton blew out a sigh. “Just another confusing piece in this crazy puzzle. All the pieces go together, I know they do, I just can’t figure out where to place them so they make sense.”

“I’ll keep digging.”

Frank entered the room and made his way toward the table.

Colton said, “I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you later.”

Katie hung up and Colton stood to greet his uncle. “Thanks for coming.”

Frank ignored his outstretched hand and slipped into the chair. “What’s this all about?”

Colton lifted a brow. So that’s the way it was going to play out. Frank looked rough. Deep grooves had etched themselves on either side of his mouth. His forehead had extra creases and dark circles rimmed the man’s eyes. Colton decided to be blunt. “You look horrible. You sick?”

Frank barked a short laugh and placed his napkin in his lap. “No, I’m not sick. I’m stressed.”

“The campaign?” Colton decided to play along.

“Yes. The campaign. Among other things.”

“Like being accused of murder?” So much for playing along.

Frank froze.

The waiter chose that moment to enter the room and the men fell silent. After receiving their glasses of water and placing their orders, they were once again alone. Colton waited.

Frank met his gaze. “What was that?”

“You heard me.”

“Why would you even say that? Whose murder?”

Time to play again. “Governor Harrison Martin.”

“Harrison?” His uncle laughed, then sobered. “You’re joking, right? The man was a good friend of mine and he was killed in a car wreck.”

“Jillian says she saw you shoot him.”

“And you believe her?”

“I don’t know what to believe. Why don’t you tell me what she saw that night.”

“Exactly what night would that be?”

Weariness hit Colton. “Ten years ago. June 6th, 2002.”

“Son, I have no idea—” He cut himself off. “Wait a minute. I was in the hospital that night with a mild heart attack.”

“I know. But you didn’t get there until after two in the morning.”

Frank lifted a brow. “Checking up on me?”

“Yeah. And neighbors reported a gunshot in your neighborhood that night.”