Seeking Justice Read online

  “Hi.”

  “Hi.”

  He was an eloquent son of a bitch. He couldn’t even talk to his own wife.

  “I was just working a little bit.”

  “I was hoping to get a quick nap before dinner, but I can come back.”

  There was probably a chair he could sack out on downstairs.

  She shook her head, her silky auburn hair catching the rays of the sun that were streaming in the window. “No, you can lie down. I can just read.”

  She set her laptop off to the side and picked up her e-reader. Left with no choice, Reed closed the door behind him and then eased himself onto the bed as close to the edge as he could get without falling off. Kaylee had made it clear to him months ago that she didn’t want him touching her anymore.

  Turning onto his side, he tried to get into a comfortable position, but the pillow was too hard and the bed not quite right. Honestly, he didn’t sleep all that well when he wasn’t cuddling his wife, even after all these months.

  “Reed?”

  Kaylee’s voice was soft, lacking the hard edge he heard so much these days.

  “Hmmm?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Before he’d left their home, Kaylee said she was sorry to him about a dozen fucking times a day. Usually he couldn’t understand what she was sorry for and today probably wasn’t going to be any different. But damn, he was going to ask anyway.

  “About what, honey?”

  For a moment he didn’t think she was going to answer but then she did, her voice quiet in the silence.

  “For being cruel to you. For being self-involved and full of self-pity. For letting myself spiral down to the point where I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m so full of pain every single day and I guess somewhere along the line I forgot that you were, too. I’m so sorry about that. You deserved better from me and you didn’t get it. If I could take it all back I would, but of course I can’t. I can only tell you that I’m sorry and that I see your pain and hurt, too. I wish I could take it away.”

  This. This he’d never heard. Logan might have taken the brunt of the investigation onto his shoulders, but this little slip of a woman had taken the weight of the world onto hers. He rolled over so he could look into her eyes. They were bright with unshed tears, but she didn’t seem as overwrought as she had in the past. If anything, she looked far more calm than she had in months.

  “Honey, what I feel isn’t your fault.”

  “I know, but–”

  He shook his head. “But nothing. It’s not your fault. This isn’t anything you can snap your fingers and take away. If you could, I would have done the same for you. I know you’re in a world of hurt, too.”

  She nodded, her head hanging low. “And I pushed you away when you wanted to comfort me. I shouldn’t have done that.”

  No, she shouldn’t have but he hadn’t exactly been a knight in shining armor. He was supposed to save his wife from the big bad world but instead she’d been flung into it headfirst.

  “I shouldn’t have let you.”

  Lifting her head, she gave him the first smile he could remember seeing in a long time. “I don’t think I gave you much of a choice.”

  “You’re a stubborn one, that’s true. But I didn’t have to let you. I should have hung in there.”

  Because Kaylee had trouble trusting that he would be there. He should have remembered that.

  Her fingers pleated the hem of her pink cotton tank top. “I pushed you away because I thought you hated me.”

  What in the ever-loving fuck?

  “I could never–”

  “No, Reed. Listen to me. You didn’t see yourself that day at the doctor’s office. You looked…different. Angry. Then you locked yourself away for days. I tried to get to you, but you were off somewhere. I thought you hated me. Do you? Maybe just a little?”

  This was his doing. His huge mistake. He’d stuck a knife in his own wife’s heart and then walked away, wondering why she was bleeding and crying. If he lived to be a hundred and fifty years old he could never make this up to her. She’d needed him and he hadn’t been there. The one time Kaylee had needed her husband more than anything and he’d been MIA.

  Because it had been tough. And difficult. And emotional. He’d done exactly what she’d feared he would do.

  “Not in this lifetime. I love you more than I can ever express. You’re more than just my wife, honey. You’re my partner. You waited for me when you didn’t have to. Understood me when any other woman would have given up. But you’re right—I was angry. Angry at the world and the injustice I was feeling. But I was never angry at you. I was angry for us. For you. I know that you wanted a baby.”

  “You did, too.”

  He had. Still did, if he were being honest. Just because that wasn’t in the cards didn’t mean the wanting disappeared.

  “I did, but most of all I just want you. I want us back where we were before. I want us to be happy again.”

  “I think I’ve forgotten how.”

  “Let me help you.” He moved closer to Kaylee, slowly and cautiously, not wanting to spook her. They’d made progress in the last few minutes and he didn’t want to fuck that up. “Honey, let me hold you. I think we both need that.”

  She didn’t move closer to him, but she didn’t jump off of the bed, either. She simply laid still as he slid his arm under her back and pressed his front to her side. She was stiff but that was a small issue. He was holding his wife for the first time in months. That was a victory he would savor.

  Eventually she set her e-reader onto the nightstand and then with the sweetest of sighs her muscles went limp and she turned into him, her nose pressed against his chest. His arms instinctively tightened around her and he took a deep breath, filling his lungs with her unique scent of vanilla and rain. He remembered smelling it for the first time that day in her living room when she’d told him she didn’t need his help. He’d been a goner for her practically from that moment.

  With the soft warm bundle of woman in his arms, Reed was content. With a smile curving his lips, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

  There was light at the end of the tunnel. And it wasn’t a train.

  Chapter Seven

  Logan stared at the map displayed on the huge screen on the wall. He’d been looking at it for a long time. Too long, really. His vision had gone blurry and his neck hurt.

  No fucking progress.

  He could stare at the map all day long, but the answer wasn’t going to jump out and smack him over the head. He wanted to beat the shit out of Wade and that anger had taken up residence in his aching shoulders.

  “You need to take a break.”

  His amazing wife was surely right but somehow he couldn’t seem to stop. He wanted all of this to come to an end so he could take his family home. Or maybe to Disney. They deserved something good after dealing with his crappy past.

  Ava held out a mug of steaming coffee. “This might help.”

  He accepted it, looking over the rim to check the contents. “I don’t suppose there’s any whiskey in here?”

  “No, but I can get some if you want. Spoiler alert. I don’t think booze is going to help. Caffeine might, though. It’s always been my go-to answer when I’m stuck on a story.”

  “This isn’t writer’s block.”

  “Isn’t it?” She perched on the edge of the desk and turned her gaze to the map. “You’re trying to see the next steps that your antagonist is going to take. Isn’t that exactly what you’re doing here? Trying to keep up?”

  “I’d love to be one or two steps ahead,” Logan snorted. “But you do make an interesting comparison, wife. If Wade were the villain in one of your mysteries, what do you think he’d do next?”

  “He’d never be a villain in one of my mysteries. Fiction has to make sense and reality doesn’t always do that. My killers commit murder because of the usual reasons. Money, revenge, love. There are other reasons but those are the big ones. Wade, on the other hand, is playing on a whole different field. His reasons for killing aren’t logical except to him.” She tapped her chin and smiled. “Having said that, if I were ever so foolish as to write a character like Wade I’d think his next move would be to send you a message. He’d want to show off, make you afraid. He wants to be better than you, so he’d want you to know how great and wonderful he is.”

  “That makes sense. Do you think Marilyn’s death was a message?”

  Ava shook her head. “No, she has no real connection to you and the body dump site didn’t either. I’d think he’d go someplace that you both remembered. That had meaning to you.”

  “That would be back to Corville and I can’t see him heading there. He’d be spotted too quickly. The fact is I can’t see how he’s traveling around now. His face is plastered on the news several times a day.”

  “He may have altered his appearance,” Ava warned. “Dyed his hair. Maybe a fake tattoo. He could even pad his clothing to make him appear heavier.”

  “I never thought that Wade could be this smart,” Logan marveled. “I thought he was a soft, rich businessman. Now he’s a cunning killer on the run from the law and a master manipulator of people that should fucking know better. I never saw it coming.”

  “I’m guessing that he saw his father manipulate his mother for years before he pushed her off of that balcony. In business he probably needed to find the weakness in people and exploit it. Then he went to prison and received an education on how to do all of that on steroids. I didn’t see it coming either but if I’ve learned anything from this it’s that you never really know your friends. You can spend years with someone, but we don’t know anything about what’s going on in their private lives. Not unless they show it to us.”

  That was a strange
statement for Ava to say. “Where did that come from? You don’t usually talk this way.”

  “Let’s just say that I was surprised today.”

  There was only one person here in this house that could do that.

  “Is Kaylee okay?”

  There was a long pause before Ava answered. “I don’t know, but I think she will be. I’m worried about her. And Reed, to be honest.”

  “Reed? He seems fine.”

  “He does and that’s why I’m worried.”

  Logan had long ago learned not to question his wife when she was like this. He trusted his gut as a lawman and he trusted Ava’s gut about their family and friends.

  “Is there some way we can help them?”

  His wife’s smile faded, her lips turned down at the corners. “No, and that’s the shitty part. All we can do is be there for them. Listen and encourage. It would be great if we could wave a wand and make it all better, but we don’t have that power.”

  “Maybe there’s something. Let me know. They’re our friends.” He didn’t want to make the offer but he did anyway. “I could talk to him, if you want me to.”

  “You hate talking about your feelings. I’m sure Reed does, too. No, we need to stay out of this. They need to work through this together.”

  “Whatever you say, boss.”

  That made the smile reappear. “Damn right. Now tell me what you’re looking at here. Is that red dot the last sighting of Wade?”

  There had been many Wade sightings. Too many to count. He couldn’t be in all of those places at the same time. “That’s where the vehicle and Marilyn’s body was found. I’m trying to figure out where he might go next.”

  “Here?”

  “You’d think that’s where he’d head but the tip line has sightings going in the opposite direction. I’m thinking you may be right. He’s going to show off a little bit before he comes here for me. The question is what is he going to do next?”

  “Well, let’s think about this. Wade never really matured after he saw his mother being murdered by his father. He sort of got stuck back there. Did anything happen that year that you can remember? Or that Wade would definitely remember? Did he win a science fair medal or get cut from the soccer team? How about a girl he had a crush on or a favorite place to go fishing?”

  It was so long ago. How was Logan supposed to know what was important to a little shit like Wade? He’d always been an arrogant prick even when they were kids. He’d liked showing off how rich–

  Wait a second. Wade liked showing off how rich his daddy was… Logan, on the other hand, never had any money. They’d grown up as brothers but that had been a line between the two of them that Logan couldn’t cross. There were some things that Wade was able to do that Logan couldn’t.

  Like go to summer camp.

  “You’re thinking about something,” Ava said, excitement rising in her tone. “I can tell by the look on your face. What is it?”

  “Right after Wade’s mom died, his dad sent all three brothers to summer camp. At the time I thought it was stupid as shit. We lived in Montana, for fuck’s sake, in the middle of nowhere. Every day was summer camp. But his dad was adamant, so they went to this fancy camp near Yellowstone. It was for rich kids. I know that because Wade wanted me to be able to go so his dad offered to send me. He talked to my mom about it but she wouldn’t do it.” Ava was giving him a strange look. “I know what you’re thinking. He was my dad too, but I just don’t think of him that way. He was Wade’s dad and my mother’s killer. That son of a bitch is no relation to me.”

  She nodded and then stood, walking over to the wide screen on the wall. “So where is this camp? Do you think Wade would go there?”

  Logan also stood and pointed to the spot on the map. “It’s definitely a possibility. Griffin and Jason are headed that direction. I think they need to go there as quickly as possible.”

  Ava’s brows shot up and the blood drained from her face. “Oh my God, are there kids there still? Would Wade hurt children?”

  Wade had a strange sort of honor code. A weird one, but he followed it just the same.

  “I don’t think so, but where there are kids there are going to be adults.” Logan pulled his phone from his shirt pocket. “I’m going to warn Griffin and Tanner, and I have you to thank.”

  “It was the least I could do.”

  “You’re brilliant.”

  “I know.”

  “And beautiful.”

  “Of course.”

  “And modest.”

  That made Ava laugh as she turned toward the door. “I’m that, too. I’ll leave you to make your calls. Do you want me to send Jared and Reed in?”

  “Yes, please.”

  A lead. Finally. It wasn’t for sure, but it was more than they’d had fifteen minutes ago. It was handy to be married to a murder mystery author. Ava just might have saved some lives this afternoon.

  Chapter Eight

  Amy and Mike carried in two large cardboard boxes and placed them on the floor next to the desk where Logan, Jared, and Reed were meeting after talking to Griffin and Jason. The two men were on the road and headed directly to the summer camp as fast as they could get there.

  “Mail,” Mike announced. “Specifically mail to Bryson while he was in prison.”

  “We’ve already seen it,” Logan said. “Marilyn sent it to us. There’s nothing there.”

  Amy reached into one of the boxes and pulled out a handful of letters. “No, you saw what Marilyn wanted you to see. There’s a hell of a lot more. There are several more boxes that we need to bring in. The bastard was popular with the crazies. They’d send him letters, pies, knitted scarves, and then some weird shit like photos of them torturing their cat. Those never made it to him, but the prison kept them.”

  “Son of a bitch,” Reed muttered under his breath. “The world is a sick place.”

  Maybe it was just as well that he and Kaylee weren’t going to have any children. Why bring them into a society with all of this depravity?

  “It is,” Mike confirmed. “Should we bring in the rest of the boxes?”

  “Absolutely,” Logan said. “We need to look through those as quickly as possible. All hands on deck. We’ll get Ava and Kaylee to assist.”

  “Are you sure?” Amy asked, hesitating in the doorway. Mike, on the other hand, had immediately jogged outside to start unloading the boxes. “It’s just…Kaylee doesn’t really have any experience doing this. I understand wanting to have Ava help but maybe it’s not a good idea. I could call and have a couple of marshals here in the morning.”

  Reed glanced at Logan and Jared, gauging their reaction. As far as he was concerned, Kaylee knew enough about what was going on to be able to look through mail for someone who might have helped Bryson. But this wasn’t his rodeo… It was Logan’s call.

  Jared was the first to speak. “Tomorrow morning will be too late. We need to look through that mail now and stay up until it’s done.”

  Logan nodded in agreement. “Exactly, plus Ava and Kaylee aren’t exactly clueless when it comes to this stuff. They’ll do fine.”

  “Your call.”

  Turning on her heel, Amy strode out of the room without another word. Jared’s brows rose and then he chuckled.

  “Looks like we pissed her off.”

  Logan shrugged, putting his attention back on the map on the wall. “I can’t worry about her delicate feelings. She’s not in charge here and if that’s an issue for her she’s welcome to call her superiors and get another assignment.”

  “I’ll go help,” Reed offered. “The sooner we get started the better.”

  Jared quickly stood, pushing his chair back. “You stay here. I’ll go help.”

  Confused, Reed could only nod as Jared followed after Amy.

  “Is he worried about my back or something? I can carry a few boxes.”

  Reed had thrown his back out about a year ago, but he was fine now as long as he didn’t do anything stupid. Like play football on Thanksgiving Day with a bunch of guys who were much younger than he was. Which was exactly how he’d hurt himself in the first place. To be fair, Kaylee had warned him it wasn’t a good idea, but his ego hadn’t wanted to admit that he was over forty and slowing down a bit. As usual, she’d been right.