Betrayed (16 page)

Daniel was entranced with this blond beauty with the large emerald eyes. She was polite, sat up straight, used proper diction, but without any type of affluence or snobbery. She didn’t seem like the type to be a receptionist in a motorcycle club auto shop. She was much too smart to limit herself ,and he wondered why she had.

But she’d already told him how important the club was to her so perhaps that was the reason. It was more critical for her to be around that support system than to have a career. This information was important to his investigation as well. The WWMC wasn’t known to be a “One Percenter” club, at least not for a long time. And if someone like Lily Gordon vouched for them that was also a nod in the right direction for the club. However, he still kept them within his radar as suspects in the Reynolds boy’s murder case.

During coffee Lily asked, “I know you can’t give me any details, but are you having any luck in the Reynolds case?”

“Right now we’re waiting on various forensic reports,” Daniel said as he took a sip of his coffee. “I put a rush on them, but it depends on how fast the lab can get to them. And there’s quite a line-up of his bullying victims that we have to check out too.”

“I know I’m biased, but I can tell you without a doubt that neither the club nor Aaron had anything to do with this boy’s murder.”

“I can tell you’re loyal to the club.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Lily said as she placed her napkin on the table. “I am loyal to a degree. If I thought one of them killed that boy, I would come forward. But I can assure you they did not.”

Lily was matter-of-fact, and Daniel knew she meant every word of it.

“You may already know this about me, but I was friends with Amy Taylor, Justin’s sister. She was found murdered, also up at Paint Creek.”

“I did read over the case. I didn’t realize you were friends with her. The case went unsolved, although they did have someone of interest…a Connor Benet, I believe. He took off and nobody has seen him since.”

“He was my fiancé,” Lily said as she looked down at the table.

“Oh, I‘m sorry…so you never heard back from him?” Daniel asked.

“No. After he became a suspect he just took off, which to me means he’s guilty.” Lily replied stonily.

“Yes, normally innocent people don’t run,” Daniel said knowing he was entering into shaky ground. Changing the subject Daniel asked about where she grew up, where her family was from, and how she ended up in Trinity.

Lily was happy to change the subject. She hadn’t spoken about Connor since that awful night. It felt odd to say his name aloud, and a slight shiver ran down her back when she did. She was glad Daniel was intuitive enough to realize the topic was uncomfortable for her and changed the subject. She liked him more and more.

Daniel, on the other hand, was past like. He was very captivated by the blond beauty. It wasn’t just her looks, but her demeanor as well. Kind yet tough, loyal but honest. She was the entire package. Daniel hoped his investigation wouldn’t turn up anything against her friends, which would probably end this budding relationship before it began.

They lingered for a long while after dinner, sipping coffee and chatting, with a lot of nervous laughter along the way. It was difficult to leave the cozy warmth of the nearby fireplace and the delightful comfort of each other’s eyes and company. That made it feel even colder when they went out into the chilly night air. Daniel left his coat unbuttoned and wrapped Lily under his wing to keep her warm on the short walk to his car.

Away from the lights and prying eyes of others, they stood by his modest but sporty Mazda Miata. Daniel hit the auto-start button on his key to warm up the car, and he looked at Lily. She was almost shivering, so Daniel wrapped her inside of his warm coat and put his arms around her. She welcomed the nearness of a man – of this man. It had been so long since she felt a man’s warmth.

He put his chin on top of her head as she snuggled against his chest, and she noticed for the first time how really big and manly this detective was. His professional clothing his a chiseled chest and strong arms, and he was much taller and stronger than she had realized…much more formidable than Connor. He was not as big as Justin, but he was just the right size for Lily.

“I had a nice night,” she said. “I…just…never expected it to be this nice.”

He put his hand behind her head and pulled her even closer. “I had a great time too, Lily. We should do this…again.”

“Often,” she said. She pulled her head back and looked into his amazing and powerful dark eyes. There was a familiar toughness there, but there was also a goodness there that she wasn’t used to.

Daniel seized the moment, making it forever perfect. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back. They shared their first kiss, and it changed her life. Her tormented soul began to heal, and she felt a tingle of the kind of joy she had completely forgotten about. When she opened her eyes again, it was as if she awoke into a whole new world and a whole new life.

He opened the car door for her, and she got into the nearly warm seat. They barely spoke on the drive home, floating on the silent but powerful energy of the moment they had just shared. Lily hugged Daniel’s arm with both of hers and laid her head on his shoulder.

*****

That same evening Justin and Ginger talked with Aaron about Jacob’s murder. There was much speculation at school about who may have committed the act, from some serial killer on the loose to one of their own walking the halls. Many of the kids knew him as a bully and weren’t particularly sad at his demise. His friends, the few he had, were strangely silent; perhaps frightened they were on some sort of vigilante hit list. Aaron was happy not to worry about being bullied, but not at the loss of a boy’s life.

“I don’t know who would do that to him. They said at school his head was bashed in so bad it was almost gone,” Aaron said.

“Kids will exaggerate Aaron,” Ginger said as she removed the dishes from the table and placed them in the dishwasher.

“I know, but still, who would do that?”

“I don’t know, but we have to let the police handle it,” Ginger said to Aaron, but wanting Justin to hear her as well.

“Yeah, the police will take care of it,” Justin said, not reassuringly. Ginger gave him a look. “Why don’t you head to your room and finish your homework, Aaron.”

Aaron got up and left the room. Ginger looked at Justin as she wiped the kitchen counter.

“Please don’t get involved in this,” she said.

“I don’t want to get involved in it, but when detectives come around and start making accusations I don’t have much of a choice,” Justin said as he twisted in his chair.

“I just don’t want you to look for trouble,” Ginger said with concern in her voice. She loved Justin desperately, but she also knew he could fly off in twenty directions without her anchoring him.

“Come here,” Justin said as he pointed towards his lap for her to sit down.

“Let’s talk in the bedroom to talk about it so Aaron can’t hear us, “ she said with a glint in her eye…and ulterior motives.

Justin sat on the edge of the bed and patted his lap for her to sit.

She sat down, and he held her tight. “I’m not going to do anything stupid, I promise. But I will ask Lily if she found out anything from her date with the detective.”

“Justin! I think she likes the guy. Don’t bug her about him,” Ginger admonished.

“I won’t. I just want to see if he told her anything about the investigation. Maybe she worked her feminine wiles on him,” he said with a grin.

“You’re bad,” Ginger giggled.

“I know,” Justin said as he kissed her passionately.

Ginger slid off his lap and kneeled on the floor in front of her man. She looked up at him with a naughty smile and reached for his belt buckle.

“You’re bad too, girl.”

Ginger nodded, without ever taking her eyes from his. Justin leaned back on his hands, and cooperated willingly as Ginger pulled his jeans and shorts down around his ankles. There was enough to fill both of her hands, and she took him in her grasp, stroking three of four times, slowly. That was all it took for Justin to be ready for duty.

“That didn’t take long, baby,” she said as she leaned forward and licked around the head of his erection.

“He knows the routine,” Justin said, caressing the back of her head, “and he likes you a lot too.”

Ginger looked in his eyes. “And I’m pretty pleased to have him in my life too.” Then she took him in her mouth, one hand still stroking him gently.

“Babe, do you want some of this for yourself?”

“She’s on her days off, sweetheart. Just lean back and enjoy.”

He did.

*****

The autopsy was performed and the body released to the family within a day. Since the Reynolds had no money to bury their son, the funeral home let it be known to the public they were accepting donations. The boy would be cremated, a cheaper alternative to embalming and purchasing a casket and plot. There would be no burial either. The funeral home donated the urn with the boy’s remains and gave it to the parents. The funeral director would later say the mother appeared like a zombie and the father was drunk.

The father called the police station every day, usually to rant and rave instead of asking about the investigation. The detectives waited for the forensics report, which gave them very little to go on. The boy was hit numerous times in the head with a blunt object. There was no sign of a struggle, nothing under his fingernails except dirt. So the first blow likely caught him unawares, the detectives deduced. So if he went to Paint Creek with someone he knew, then he wasn’t afraid of them or didn’t have a clue they meant to kill him. Otherwise, someone snuck up on him, which seems unlikely with the crackling of dead leaves on the ground.

Mallory and Evans discussed the case. If it was someone the kid knew and wasn’t afraid of, and that would likely rule out the WWMC. First of all the boy would not have gone willingly with the members of the WWMC, so there should have been signs of a struggle or rope or cuff marks on his wrists and there weren’t any. Aaron as well wouldn’t have gone willingly to Paint Creek Forestry with Jacob, and if he was forced to and was fighting for his life, then it was self-defense and he would have defense wounds or bruises. Neither Mallory nor Evans felt like Aaron committed the crime. He was a small kid, and it didn’t make sense.

That left Jacob’s few friends and possibly the father. The father was a good guess, especially since it was obvious he beat his wife…so why not the kid too? Maybe he was drunk and got carried away disciplining the boy. Reynolds was also quick to throw blame at the club, perhaps in an effort to deflect interest away from him.

Jacob’s friends were another avenue the detectives explored. They called the two boys in for questioning. They seemed subdued but both kept to their stories that they were in school all day and went to a McDonalds after school. The school and video footage corroborated their stories, and as a result the friends were ruled out. That brought the detectives back to Reynolds Senior or someone unknown.

The club stayed out of the mess, preferring to remain on the sidelines, hoping Lily would give them a heads up. She and Daniel continued dating and their relationship grew.

Lily wasn’t prepared to fall in love with a man so quickly. She came out of a traumatic episode with Connor and wasn’t about to give herself freely to any man. But Daniel was different – not needy like Connor had been. He was self-assured yet didn’t take himself too seriously. He had a humorous side, something Connor never possessed. Lily began to realize that Daniel was the complete opposite of Connor.

“So is this getting serious?” Ginger asked one day during a club fundraiser. The WWMC offered fundraising rides from time to time. This one was for a child in the community who was battling cancer, and the parents needed help with medical bills. Lily and Ginger along with several of the other old ladies cooked supper for the club after the ride.

“Maybe,” Lily smiled.

“Oh, Lily, I’m so happy for you!” Ginger squealed.

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself,” Lily said as she mixed the giant salad. “We’re steady dating and that’s about it.” Lily leaned over and whispered in Ginger’s ear, “We haven’t gone all the way either, but there’s been some heavy duty play action.”

“Wow,” Ginger whispered back. “How do you two not want to rip each other’s clothes off?” Both girls giggled.

“Well, I think part of it is he’s consumed with the Reynolds case. He really wants to figure out who killed the boy, and I don’t blame him. As bad as Jacob was to Aaron, he didn’t deserve what happened.”

“Well, let’s hope they find out who did it so you two can get to the next level of your relationship,” Ginger said as she chopped tomatoes for the salad.

“It’s strange,” Lily said. “After Connor I never thought I’d want to be in a relationship with a man again, but Daniel is so different. He’s someone I feel I can trust and build a life with.”

“I’m so happy for you, Lily. You deserve all the happiness in the world.” The girls hugged and went about the preparation for the evening meal. Soon the women heard the roar of bikes as they drove into the club and auto body parking lot. The ride was over, and the WWMC had raised almost $10,000 for the family in need. Daniel showed up at the same time as the bikes to join with the club in the evening supper. Justin met him in the club parking lot.