Page 62 of Not Our Daughter

“I’m innocent, Jack. So is my wife.”

“Why’re you here?”

“Like I said, I need your help.”

“My help? How?”

“Hailey McGee told us you were helping Candace with something at the time of her death. A plan she had to make money and put themselves in a better situation.”

“Hailey told you that?”

“Yes, I just spoke with her. Is it true?”

Jack leaned back. “I’m not looking to get into any trouble.”

“I understand. But I’m looking to get out of trouble. So if you know something, I’m begging you to help us. If not us, help Candace’s daughter.”

This seemed to trigger him emotionally. “She is still with you?”

Cole nodded. “She’s a wonderful young lady. And she looks a lot like Candace.”

Jack swallowed. “I would love to see her, man. How old is she now?”

“She turned fourteen yesterday.”

He shook his head. “Wow. That’s crazy. I can’t believe Candace has been gone that long. I still think about her all the time.”

“You two were romantically involved?”

“I wish. I fell in love with her in the eighth grade and never stopped. But she never had any interest in me in that way. No matter what I tried, we were just friends.”

“What were you helping her with when she died?”

Jack kind of squirmed in his seat. “She was desperate, man. Her life was a real train wreck. She’d gone through one terrible and abusive relationship after another. She was drinking, doing drugs, stealing things. And then she lost her daughter. But she came to me and said she needed my help to turn her life around. She was going to get sober and help Hailey, too. Apparently, she’d found out that one of the guys she’d slept with—the one who’d gotten her pregnant with Marcy—was some rich guy who was running for office or something. I guess she didn’t know it when they’d hooked up, but she saw one of his campaign commercials on TV. Turned out he was also married with two kids. Candace thought she could squeeze him for some cash.”

“Do you know who the guy was?”

He shook his head. “She didn’t want me to know. She just wanted me to help her figure out how to send an untraceable email, set up a numbered bank account, and then, after the money was wired, help her access it. All of which was easy to do on my end. But I tried to talkher out of it. I told her these things can get messy fast. But like I said, she was so desperate. She came from nothing. So I set it all up for her.”

“Did she ever follow through with the plan?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. This was about a month before she died. When she never called me about helping her access the money, I figured she’d come to her senses.”

“Did you ever suspect her death could be connected to this plan of hers?”

His brow bunched. “You think it was connected?”

“Yes, I do.”

Jack’s mouth dropped open, and he slowly leaned back in his chair. “Damn. It honestly never crossed my mind. The police immediately placed all their focus on you and your wife. So it seemed clear from day one what happened to her. Which makes it bizarre sitting here with you right now.”

“For me, too. I think Candace tried to squeeze the wrong guy. Someone more powerful and sinister than she ever suspected. And it got her killed. And I think this person is still determined to keep these secrets by sending the same killer after us.”

Jack cursed. “You serious?”

“Yes. Is there any way for you to find the email she sent?”

Jack looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know, man. I don’t want any part of this.”

---