Page 30 of Stand By You
Geneva sniffed, picked up her Chanel bag and flounced out of the room, high heels clicking on the polished floor.
“Wow,” Nick exclaimed into the silence. “What do you make of that?”
“She just told us enough to establish her alibis,” Kohl said resignedly. “She’s a tough nut to crack. And I’m not buying that poor me it’s not my fault act. I’m not sure if she was on the up and up or if she was putting on an act the whole time.”
“I’m with you there,” Jillian said. “She really hid her addiction well.”
“Let’s go to my office,” Kohl said, leading them out. “Simons said you were bringing down letters for him as evidence?”
“Yes,” Jillian opened her purse, pulling out two envelopes and handed them to Kohl. “Each have different postmarks, and I received them before I was mugged the first time. But I didn’t think anything about it because the letters didn’t make sense to me. That’s why I didn’t mention them to Detective Simons. I wouldn’t have even thought about them if Nick hadn’t asked if anything out of the ordinary had happened when he was questioning me in the hospital after my hit and run.”
“Simons has filled me in on your case,” Kohl said. “It is a doozie. And Nick believes Geneva is behind it all.”
“Here’s what I think,” Nick said. “Deep down she resents Jillian for testifying against her during the divorce and custody hearing. Jillian has been raising her son for her all these years while Geneva has been in and out of rehab. Now that she’s sober she still can’t get her child back because she has to prove she can stay sober for years and like her lawyer told her, it will be years before a judge will even consider a custody hearing.”
Jillian smiled at Nick and touched his arm. “I can see why you’re a JAG officer. That was some summation. If I were in trouble, I’d want you on my side.”
He leaned toward her and said softly. “I am on your side.”
“I’m glad.” She leaned in as well, their eyes locking and she felt a warmth flood through her. Could this be happening? Here? Now? After all these years had she met a man she was attracted to while she was going through a crisis of all things. It didn’t seem right when Travis was missing.
“These letters are strange,” Kohl said, disrupting their moment. They pulled away and looked at him.
“I thought so when I received them,” Jillian said. “Strange enough that I didn’t pay them no mind. And they came far enough apart I didn’t really connect them.”
“Yet, you kept them?” Kohl said, his brow arched. “Any reason for that?”
She nodded. “Maybe my subconscious knew they were important?”
Simons entered and tossed the folder on his desk. “Well, how did you like the show?”
“Are you sure it was a good idea to let her leave?” Kohl asked, quickly switching his focus from the letters to Geneva once more.
“We have no reason to hold her, but I’ve assigned undercover detectives to follow her,” Simons replied. “They’ll report in if she knows where Travis is and goes to him, we’ll be on her like a flee on a coonhound.”
“What about her parents?” Nick asked.
“Them too,” Simons said. “I’m not taking any chances that they are not involved in this up to their eyeballs. And I don’t give a shit if they sold the mayor a house or a gold-plated doghouse to go with it. If they’re in on their grandson’s kidnapping, I’ll personally throw their asses in jail.”
CHAPTER 10
Wizard and Slickwalked into Hot Miami Messengers the following morning to get their shift assignments and were greeted by the other messengers in the lobby staring at them as they headed to dispatch for pickup. They were always getting strange looks, but something was different about today.
“Do we smell?” Slick asked, bending his elbows and raising his arms so he could sniff under his armpits.
“Naw,” Wizard said. “It’s our new threads and haircuts. We look smokin’ hot in our biker threads. They’re jelly.”
“That must be it,” Slick agreed, and he strutted toward the back to pick up their messenger packs.
The television monitor in the break area caught Wizard’s attention when he saw the Amber Alert plastered on the screen for the eight-year-old boy they’d taken from Zoo Miami two days before and he jerked Slick in that direction.
“What’s wrong with you?” Slick demanded, cursing under his breath until he looked up at the screen where Wizard was pointing and he saw photos of themselves in a shabbier state plastered up there. “What the…”
Wizard turned to face him with murder in his eyes. “It’s about that kid,” he mouthed, not making a sound.
“What?” Slick whispered.
“That kid,” Wizard whispered.
