Beyond A Reasonable Doubt (8 page)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Jenna helped drag the last piece of broken furniture to the curb, where Antonio and Mario Alveraz tossed it into the back of a truck. One hand gently caressing her lower back, she wiped the sweat from her brow. “Thank you, guys.”

“No problem, Miss James. You need us to do anything else, you call, okay?”

Jenna waved them off. The twins were one of her few success stories. They’d broken into a convenience store when they were thirteen. After spending hours with their mother and looking into the family situation, she’d moved for a diversion and gotten both the boys part-time jobs. If all went well, both would finish high school the next May with high honors.

Jenna started back to the house just as a limo pulled up. She stopped and waited as the driver exited and came around to where she stood. “Mr. Beaumont would like a word with you, ma’am.”

Jenna glanced at the limo then down at her tattered tennis shoes, cutoffs, and tank top. “Now?”

The driver grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Why not?” Jerking off her gloves, she strolled to the limo and allowed the driver to open the door for her before climbing into the backseat.

“Drive around the countryside, Burt. I’ll tell you when to stop.” Beaumont turned his attention to Jenna and smiled. “I apologize for the inconvenience, but I felt it best we get a few things out of the way.”

Jenna remained silent. She’d had just about enough of the rich and powerful for one week.

“Most of the rumors you’ve probably heard about me are true. I was a very young man when I learned if you wanted something, you had to take it.”

Jenna rubbed her right wrist, hoping to alleviate the throbbing pain in her small finger. “Could we get to the point, Mr. Beaumont? The last three days have been very trying.”

“I have every
thing
in life that anyone could possibly want, Miss James. Now that I’m older, wiser I hope, I couldn’t care less about the money or the power. What I do care about is my daughter.” He turned in the seat and forced her to meet his gaze. “I would die for her, and I would kill for her.”

Jenna swallowed hard. “If you want to know where Jordan is, you’re wasting your time. I don’t know.”

“I’ve heard great things about you, Miss James. I’ve heard you’re hard-nosed when it comes to crime. I’ve heard you can’t be bought.” He paused for a moment. “And I’ve heard you can’t be fooled, even by the best.

“I know where Jordan Elkins is. What I don’t know is
who
Jordan Elkins is. My daughter loves him. She’s carrying his child, so I need you to tell me, Miss James—what kind of man is Jordan Elkins, and do I help him, or do I kill him?”

Forty-eight hours before, his words would have shocked her. She didn’t think anything could shock her anymore. “Speaking totally hypothetically, sir, if I had a daughter and she wanted to be with Jordan Elkins, I would give her my blessing.”

Beaumont pressed a button, and the driver turned around heading back toward her house. He pulled out a card and handed it to her. “My daughter pulled you into this mess.” He glanced at her right hand. “And because of that, you’ve suffered some losses. I had this made for you this morning. Please refurnish your house and replace anything that’s been destroyed. Should you need anything else, please don’t hesitate to let me know.”

Jenna stared down at the gold card sporting her name. It would be so easy to take it. She actually deserved it. “How did you know about my house?”

Beaumont met her gaze. “Let’s just say some of my known associates travel in the same circles as Elkins’s known associates.”

“Thank you, but no thank you. I can’t take this, Mr. Beaumont. We take an oath, and even though this isn’t a matter before the court, I’m still bound by that oath.” She handed the card back to him just as the limo pulled into her driveway.

The driver parked and opened her door. She climbed out before she was tempted to reach back in and take the card. “Thank you, Mr. Beaumont. Tell Kamela hello for me.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

Harry made a wide swing around Main Street, eyes vigilant for anything out of the norm. “I’ve been thinking, Jake; maybe you should send Cara to her mother’s for a while.”

Jake lit a cigarette and rolled down the window. “You think they’re watching us?”

“If Marcus Dade is involved in this, I can guarantee you they’re watching Jenna and, by now, us.”

“Yeah, I been thinking the same thing. Maybe you should move in with JJ and keep an eye on things. I don’t think she realizes the kind of danger she’s in.”

“JJ?”

Jake laughed. “Come on, don’t tell me you haven’t been thinking it too. She’s cute, petite, and she looks like a JJ.”

“Did you know her middle name is Patience?” Harry turned down Second Street, driving slowly past the funeral home.

“You’re kidding. Hell, she’s got less patience than I do. Parents must have had a real sense of humor.”

Harry pulled to the curb and turned off the engine. “All right, Sherlock, what’s on your mind? We got a plan on this undertaker?”

Jake scanned the building and tossed his cigarette out the window. “There’s a lot on my mind, but you’re not gonna like any of it.”

Harry shrugged. “Won’t be the first time. What’s up?”

“Like you said, there’s some pretty hefty players in this game: Marcus Dade, William Elkins and Clifford Beaumont, and now this Agent Starks. We go in there and start asking questions, odds are one—or all—of us is going to wind up dead before morning.”

“And if we don’t?” Harry placed his hands on the wheel, staring into the distance. “Odds are Jenna James is going to wind up dead anyway. She knows too much.”

Jake lit another cigarette. “I think she’s aware of that. There’s another way, but it’s not on the up-and-up.”

Harry turned and studied his partner. “I’m game.”

“The reason Elkins and Dade have been able to stay below the radar for so long is they don’t leave witnesses. If you were an undertaker hired to do a job you knew could get you killed if the truth came out, what would you do?”

Harry grinned, catching on and starting the car. “I’d do X-rays of the body and document every bruise, broken bone, and defense wound.”

“And where would you keep such a file, Harry?”

Pulling back onto the street, Harry considered the question. “Not here and not at home. I’d give it to someone safe so I could have it as leverage.”

“Your niece, Loki, still doing that private-eye thing?” Jake asked.

Harry nodded. “Mostly cheating wives and husbands. She’d jump at the chance for something a little more exciting. Want me to give her a call?”

“Yes and no. We can’t spend days following him around, but she could get hurt, Harry. With Dade in the picture, she could get killed.”

Harry’s hand gripped the steering wheel, knuckles whitening. “I’ll give it to her straight. She knows how to watch her back.”

~ ~ ~

“Come in.”

Maria poked her head inside the library door. “Mr. Dade is here to see you, sir.”

“Send him in.”

William Elkins lit a cigar and leaned back in his thick leather chair. Marcus would know what to do—not only about the will but about Jordan and the rest of this mess.

“Hello, William.”

Elkins stood up and extended his hand. “It’s good to see you, Marcus, as always. Have a cigar. Can I get you a drink?”

“I’ll pass on the cigar and the drink.” Dade took a seat in the chair next to the desk. “You wanted to see me.”

Elkins picked up the will and handed it to him. “How do I get rid of this?”

Dade read the will, his lips curving slightly. “Do you know how I’ve managed to stay clean all these years, William?”

“Because you’re smart, like me.”

“That’s partly right. But I never leave a trail, William—no phone trail, no money trail, no paper trail. I don’t make mistakes… and I don’t tolerate mistakes.”

Elkins noted the hardness of Dade’s blue eyes, the firm set of his jaw. Dade hadn’t said it, but the words hung there in the air between them.
And I don’t leave witnesses.

Dade continued. “Forget about the will. It’s ironclad, and my advice to you is to accept it and go on with your life.”

“And just how the hell would you suggest I do that? If that thing gets probated, I’m broke.”

Dade leaned forward in the chair. “You’re not broke, William. You get a hefty retirement. Cut out the gambling and the whores, and you should be able to maintain a reasonable lifestyle.” His gaze drifted around the room, and he smiled. “Of course, not to this level, but there are worse things than being broke.”

Elkins gritted his teeth as heat flooded his neck and face and the palms of his hands started to sweat. “Are you threatening me, Dade? You seem to forget who I am.”

Dade laughed softly and crossed his legs. “No, William, you’ve forgotten who I am. Without me, you would have been killed a long time ago. I pull my protection, and there are people just waiting to collect on debts you owe.”

Elkins swallowed hard. His head was spinning and his heart beating too fast.

“You have bigger problems than your debts at the moment,” Dade continued. “Your son has created a mess, and I want to know what you plan on doing about it.”

“I’ve got people on the street. We’ll find him soon enough. I’ve already taken care of that prosecutor. She won’t be a problem. Wouldn’t have been a problem anyway if Clifford Beaumont had kept his nose out of it.”

Dade uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. “I’m not talking about Jordan. I’m talking about Michael.”

“Michael? Michael hasn’t done anything.”

Dade stood up. “See, that’s your problem, William. You don’t watch what’s happening around you. You make mistakes. When Michael sent those two federal agents out to Atlanta, he called them from his own cell phone. And the prosecutor had two cops at her house last night. What do you think they talked about?”

Elkins felt the blood drain from his face. His hands trembled as he picked up the glass of scotch and took a drink. “I’ll take care of it.”

Dade smiled at him. “See that you do.” He walked toward the door and stopped, his right hand on the doorknob. “And, William, stay away from Clifford Beaumont. He’s above your pay grade.”

Elkins stared at the closed door a long time, his hand clenching and unclenching around his glass. He flung it at the closed door, reached for the phone, and dialed a number. “Above my pay grade? Who the hell does he think he is? Wasn’t for me, he’d still be a penny-ante lawyer trying to scratch out a living.”

“Hello.”

“Get over here. I’ve got a job for you.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The phone was shrilling again as Jenna entered the front door. Glancing at the caller ID, she saw David’s name and picked up the receiver.

“Hello.”

“Jenna, where have you been? I’ve been calling your cell and your home for two days now.”

Jenna glanced at her now-empty living room. “I’ve been doing some remodeling, and I lost my cell. Did you need something?”

“Did you see Carter’s press conference?”

Jenna gripped the phone more tightly. With everything that had happened, she’d totally forgotten about the Travello trial. “No, what did he say?”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Jenna. The trial was strictly by the book. The PSIR was a glitch in the system. Travello had two different social security numbers. There’s no way you could have known that.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little too convenient, David?”

“Travello got lucky. It happens sometimes.”

“It shouldn’t happen. Not if we’re doing our job.”

David sighed. “Let it go, Jenna. I also wanted to let you know I tracked down that fake journalist. He’s the younger brother of the immigrant that killed your parents. Name is Carlos Markito.”

Jenna took in the information, storing it in the back of her mind with all the other things she had to deal with at the moment.

“You ready to come back to work, or are you enjoying your vacation?”

Going back to work would solve the problem of access to Elkins’s court files, but it would also limit her time for working with Jake and Harry. Jordan had given her only a week. “Are you okay?”

“The oncologist is starting me on chemo again in two weeks. I’ll be fine until then, but I miss you around here. You kept us all straight.”

Jenna laughed. “I miss you guys, too, but I think I’ll stay off at least another week. How about I come back a week from Monday? That way, I’ll be there when you start your treatments.”

“You enjoy your vacation, then.”

“Thanks, David, I will. Bye.”

Jenna hung up the phone and flopped down in the middle of the living room floor. Jordan’s paranoia was getting to her. David had made her take a vacation when he should have stood behind her and defended her. Now, all of a sudden when she was closing in on Elkins and Dade, he suddenly wanted her back at the office. Why? Was he telling the truth, or did someone think it would be easier to keep an eye on her there?

Sighing, she stood up and headed for her bedroom. Thanks to Beaumont, she’d missed dinner, and Jake and Harry were planning on stopping by around midnight. If she hurried, she’d have just enough time to take a shower before they arrived.

True to form, Jake and Harry arrived right at midnight. Jenna let them in and motioned toward the kitchen. “If you’re hungry, it’s breakfast again.”

Harry eyed the empty living room. “Looks like you’ve been busy today.”

“Now if I just had the money to furnish it, I’d be fine.”

Jenna waited until they were seated and plates were filled with bacon and her specialty omelet. She was eventually going to have to go shopping. “Did you find out anything today?”

Jake took a bite of bacon and washed it down with coffee. “I called a friend of mine in Lexington, Kentucky. He’s doing some checking there, but it’s probably a dead end. The Elkinses stayed at a private farm owned by Mrs. Elkins. She leaves a staff there year-round, and she and Mr. Elkins stay there during race season. They always attend the Derby and the Keeneland meets. Usually stay there for a few weeks. Odds are, even if the staff saw something, they’ll be too scared to tell it. Don’t the Elkinses have a maid that’s been with them for years?”

Jenna nodded. “I think Michael called her Maria. She’s been with them since he was a little boy.”

“Have you met her?” Harry asked.

“No. Michael wanted to keep our relationship quiet until after he announced his candidacy for judge.”

Jake frowned, shot a quizzical look at Harry, and asked, “How long have you been dating this guy?”

Jenna felt her cheeks flush. “About six months. You don’t have to say it, Savior, or even insinuate it. I’m an idiot… or at least, I
was
an idiot.”

Harry steered the conversation back to the case. “I feel like we’re looking for a needle in a haystack, and we’re doing it by jumping up and down on our butts. Eventually, one of us is going to wind up screaming ouch. Have you talked to Michael since he left the hospital?”

Jenna shook her head. “It took me all evening to clean up the mess Elkins made of my furniture. Then Beaumont came calling. I had just enough time to shower and prepare this luscious meal before you guys knocked. Why do you ask?”

“Because you know his mother died in Kentucky. Even if his father tried to put fear into you, Michael is going to have to deal with that one way or the other. Either he convinces you to not talk, or he makes sure you can’t talk. It might be a good idea to move to a motel until we figure out where we’re going on this,” Harry said.

“No. In fact, hell no. I almost lost my job; I’ve been shot at, dumped in the middle of nowhere to be eaten by bugs, and tortured; and I ruined my only pair ever of seven-hundred-dollar shoes. I am not leaving my home.”

Harry grinned, meeting her gaze. “All right, then let’s do what we do. We usually get a hint, collect evidence, and arrest the bastards. You put the evidence together and make a case. Tell us what we need, and we’ll get it.”

“We need proof I can present to a jury—something that a mastermind like Dade can’t pick apart and make look innocent. There have to be records somewhere—the pilot of the plane, the staff at the farm, the maid, or as Jake said, the undertaker. Someone knows, and we need that person to talk.

“I’ve got a friend at the federal courthouse. I’ll contact him tomorrow and see if he can do some research for us on Judge Elkins’s dismissals. We need to establish a pattern of corruption. I’ll map out a set of questions that I want to ask Elkins on the stand. All we have to do is gather the proof to back up those questions so he can’t lie his way out of it. We have the list Jordan gave us of beatings.”

Jake drained his coffee cup and stood to refill it. “We have to start thinking like they do, and we need to be quick about it. If there’s someone out there that’s a threat, that person is going to disappear pretty damn quick.”

Jenna held out her cup for him to refill. “So what happened with the undertaker? Was that a dead end?”

Harry grinned and raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry,” Jenna said. “No pun intended.”

“We’ve got someone watching him,” Jake said. “Figured he wouldn’t talk, but unless he’s an idiot, he kept something, some type of proof to protect himself.”

Jenna frowned. “The more people who know what we’re doing, the better chance Elkins or Dade will get wind of it. Are you sure you can trust this person?”

“It’s my cousin, Loki. She runs a small private-eye business. I’d trust her with my life,” Harry said.

Jenna placed her cup in the sink. “I hope so because you just did.”

Jake walked into the living room, glanced out the front window, and cursed softly. “You’re being watched.”

Harry and Jenna joined him at the window. “Far right tree line. If you watch, you’ll see the glint off the lens.”

Harry pulled his gun. “I say we go out the back, circle around, and take him down.”

Jenna laid her hand on his arm and shook her head. “It wouldn’t do any good. They’d just send someone else. Better to let them watch and let them follow us until the evidence is gathered.”

“She’s right, Harry. Of course, they know we’re cops, so they may not give us time to collect the evidence,” Jake said.

“We just have to make sure it looks like we aren’t finding anything,” Jenna said, “which right now isn’t all that hard because we aren’t.” She grinned at Harry. “And we need another reason for you two being here.” She opened the door, flipped on the porch light, and walked out, motioning Harry and Jake to follow her. She waited until the three of them were outside, laughed loudly, and turned to reach up and pull Harry’s face down to hers for a long, sensuous kiss. Pulling back just a little, she whispered, “Get that shocked look off your face, and play along.”

Harry grinned and pulled her close. “Thank you, ma’am.”

Jenna stood on the steps and waved them off. She fought the urge to look at the spot Jake had shown her earlier. Word would probably get back to Michael eventually that she had another boyfriend on the side, but she hoped she’d bought them some time. She grinned as she closed the door behind her. Besides, she’d been looking at those gorgeous lips for two days now and wondering what it would be like to be kissed by them. She grinned again. It felt good. Really good.