Finding Justice (12 page)

Fear, mixed with a strange joy that he still wanted her,
skittered along the surface of her skin. Try as she might to quash it, Cat
relished its sensation for the briefest time before reality crushed it to dust.
Even if he was innocent, he was an addict. How could she contemplate a
relationship with an addict when her mum was already destroying every ounce of
love in her heart? But knowing she meant something to him mattered so much. She
could go back to Reading and replace a little of her self-esteem at least.

As they walked deeper into the forest, the year-round smell of
rotting vegetation, pine needles and damp assaulted Cat’s nostrils. The second
the darkness enveloped them, her cop instincts rushed into her blood, pumping
adrenaline through her veins, putting her conversation with Jay to the back of
her mind.

Beneath their feet, the foliage grew thick and then sparse in
places. Above them, the trees’ branches were a near-solid canopy of every shade
of green, punctuated by pinholes of bright light from the afternoon sun. Her
hand slipped from Jay’s as she turned three hundred and sixty degrees. She
scanned the circumference.

“Bennett puts the time of death between six and nine in the
evening,” she said. “It wouldn’t have been pitch black in here during that time.
It would’ve been half-light even if it was closer to nine. I can’t imagine
anyone coming in here at that time of night unless the prize was incredibly
worthwhile. Or they were doing something illegal or immoral.”

“Or both.”

“Exactly.” She met his eyes. How much did she tell him? The
shaky barrier between them wobbled. She needed to see his eyes, read his
thoughts. The only way to curb the ugly thoughts of Jay being capable of murder
was to feed him tidbits of information and watch him react. She blew out a
breath. “Bennett suggested something about a drug connection, but not in the way
we thought. Sarah wasn’t using but he thinks she might have been handling
money.”

He stared, his eyes wide with disbelief. “Drug money? That’s no
more likely than if she was actually taking the stuff.” He fisted his hands on
his hips and glanced around. “What the hell had she gotten into, Cat?”

Cat searched his face for that glimmer of knowing, a hint of
guilt. Something. Nothing but disgust looked back at her. Jay didn’t believe
Sarah could be involved in the drug world any more than she did. Or at least,
didn’t want to.

She followed his gaze. “We have to take this drug connection
seriously. First there were the rumors, and now with what Bennett says, it seems
as if there could be some truth to them. We have to find out who she knew who
used, bought or sold drugs.”

Silence. His back was turned and Cat’s nerves trembled.
“Jay?”

“What?”

“Where did you hang out when you were using?”

He tipped his head back and huffed out a laugh. “Do you know
how much I hate hearing you ask me that?”

Cat reached out to grip his forearm. The muscles tensed like
twisted rope beneath her fingers. “Jay, look at me.”

He dipped his chin. “What?”

“I’m not asking you to insult you or bring back memories you’d
rather forget. It’s somewhere for us to start, somewhere Bennett might not know
anything about. Your experience could give us a head start. I want Sarah’s
killer found by whomever, but it would be closure for us both if we found
him.”

“I get that.”

“Then tell me. This is a murder investigation. It’s not fair to
make me feel unable to ask you questions, not when Sarah’s killer is out there
and you want me to believe your innocence.” Guilt scratched at Cat’s conscience.
Her questions weren’t entirely steeped in Sarah but in him, too. But this was
necessary. She had to do this.

“Although the possibility grows less and less likely every day,
her killer could still be here. I need to ask you about the drugs. It’s one of
the best leads we have. If the cops are right about Sarah’s involvement, you
know more about her world than any of them. You’ve been there.”

His face flushed. She didn’t like doing this to him but she had
to—this wasn’t about them as friends...or lovers. The tension was palpable and
the sudden insane urge to lift onto her toes and kiss him flooded through her,
negating her previous thought. Her gaze fell to his lips. She wanted to take
away his pain and him hers.

“Jay—”

His mouth came down on hers so roughly she staggered back, his
arms wrapping around her waist, thick and strong. Just for a moment she’d let
this happen. She closed her eyes and drank him in as if he were an oasis in the
desert. His tongue found hers and together they grappled for supremacy, for a
demonstration of who controlled the kiss. She dug her nails into his wide
muscular shoulders, holding on to him like a lifeline.

A low guttural moan escaped from deep within him, vibrating
into her mouth, making her shudder and cling harder. His skin smelled masculine
and true and entirely Jay. She breathed him in, kissed him and held him before
gasping for breath as they parted.

She stared. His eyes were wide and hungry, his mouth reddened.
Cat pushed her hand through her hair, holding it there.

“That was...that was...”

“Necessary.” He laughed.

Cat smiled, looked to the ground. “And entirely
inappropriate.”

Their gazes held for a long moment. “The last thing I want is
to hurt you, Jay. This is going to be hard. The whole process. I’m here to catch
her killer. Our emotions can be dealt with when we have him, or her, locked up.
In the meantime, we push whatever is happening between us to the background. We
have to.”

“Maybe.”

He walked forward, pulling her deeper into the forest. Cat
shuddered out a heavy breath. They were both surviving, no matter their
different stories. That’s what the frenzied intensity of that kiss said to her
and she could deal with that if she remained focused. So why then was she
looking at him from the corner of her eye and wondering when they’d kiss
again?

CHAPTER NINE

T
HE
RUSTLE
OF
THE
LEAVES
above them and the snap of
twigs beneath them serenaded Cat and Jay’s progress into the forest. Eventually
the air was punctuated with what Cat recognized as the flapping of police tape
as it rose and fell on the increasing breeze. They came to a standstill. Both
staring ahead, Cat sensed Jay’s heart beating as painfully as hers.

The scene had been swept for DNA, Sarah’s body taken, leaving
behind the remnants of a police investigation by way of trampled bracken and the
eerie silvery-white remains of fingerprint dust. Nothing else was there to
reveal the horror that took place. Everything was still and quiet except the
crudely cut, bright yellow tape snapping and pulling from the four huge oak
trees to which it had been tied. Their trunks stood like corner markers around
the spot where Sarah’s young life had been cut brutally short.

Cat trembled. Jay’s arm felt heavy when it slipped across her
back; his fingers clasped her shoulder, firm and secure.

“What was she doing here?” she whispered. “It’s so damp. So
cold.”

He didn’t answer and she hadn’t really wanted him to. She
focused on what clues the seemingly empty crime scene could provide. It would
provide. They always did.

She narrowed her gaze, centered her mind. “Is coming through
the meadow from your house the only way into the forest? Or is there—”

A child’s playful shouting cut through the tense and macabre
silence. Cat jumped and cold sweat burst onto her forehead. “My God, are kids
allowed in here?” She whirled out from beneath his arm and turned toward where
the incongruous sound came. “This isn’t a freaking playground.”

“It’s fenced off. They can’t get in here.”

“Are you sure? That scream sounded close.”

He came to stand beside her and gestured in the same direction.
“The other side of the forest backs onto a holiday park, remember? You, Sarah
and I used to sneak in there to play on the zip wire and climbing frames.”

“Tetherton Holiday Park? That’s where those kids are?”

“Yep.”

“Jesus. He didn’t care, did he?”

“Who?”

“Whoever killed Sarah. What are we? A hundred, two hundred
yards from the park?”

He took a couple of steps forward and pointed in the opposite
direction. “Over that way is near the outskirts of Funland. That’s why I’m
convinced someone must have seen something.”

Cat looked around. “This couldn’t have been the first time
Sarah and her killer came here. When I spoke to Bennett, he said there haven’t
been more than half a dozen phone calls from people offering information. None
of then added substance to their enquiries. This is a holiday spot. It’s August,
and when you have a highly publicized murder like this, people remember things.
Especially when something happens when they’re away from their home towns.
Parents are more alert. They watch their kids more, stay together in family
groups.”

He planted his hands on his hips and looked first toward the
holiday park and then Clover Point and then Funland. “You’re right. There are
three possible ways into the forest and whichever way Sarah came, she came in
willingly and without a fight.”

Cat studied him. His brow was furrowed in concentration, his
eyes clear. No trace of anything but determination showed in his face. “I think
she knew her killer, Jay. I think people were used to seeing them together.”

“Like a couple.”

Their eyes met and Cat nodded.

“She had to have been seeing someone.” His excitement at an
imminent step forward lit a flare in his gaze and with it the mistake so many
rookie cops made on their first few cases—and so many parents made when their
kids went missing. A link. An anchor. Something to hold up and say, “We’ve got
something. We’re going to catch you.”

“Don’t get your hopes up.” She sighed. “If there was no
boyfriend, it could’ve been a friend, an associate...anyone she knew, really.”
You.

He lifted his shoulders. “Maybe. But it’s more likely she came
here because she was seeing someone out of bounds. A married man, a school
governor, even a parent of one of the kids she taught. It makes no sense to meet
a
friend
in a damn forest.”

Cat watched him, waited to see if he noticed the accusation in
her tone. Waited to see if he turned away from her, opened the distance between
them. He did neither. She drew in a breath, released it. “You’re right, it
doesn’t, but until we know why she came here, we have to keep our minds open to
every possibility. Every scenario. We assume nothing at this point, okay?”

“But Sarah didn’t have enemies. Everyone loved her. She was
known for her generosity, her affinity with the kids, her patience.”

“Yes, but she had her limits.” She met his gaze directly. “She
didn’t want to see you for close on four years, remember. Sarah knew her mind
and stuck to what she believed was right.”

He narrowed his eyes and then his cheeks darkened. “Got
it.”

The silence stretched until Cat looked away, hating everything
about the situation. The distrust between them and the fact that someone had
taken their friend’s life hung like an evil barrier between them. She moved away
and stared around the forest.

“I think she was trying to help whoever killed her. Trying to
help them out of some sort of trouble. Why else meet in such a place? Why else
call you after all this time? She must have needed you. Saw no one else she
could turn to that she trusted. Sarah most likely knew that, despite your
estrangement, you were the only one she could rely on.”

“Which means I could possibly know this person, too.”

“Or the whole town could.” She turned to face him and
adrenaline started its familiar hum in her blood. Once she and Jay talked about
him not telling Bennett about Sarah’s call, Cat hoped the threads keeping her
grounded in suspicion of his guilt would snap. She wanted him fighting to find
this killer right beside her, in the inner circle rather than the outer.

She cleared her throat. “You’re right. Sarah was a popular
teacher, yet she arranges an assignation where no one will see them...or her
friend does. I think whoever killed her is known in Templeton. Known and
possibly liked. Sarah was protecting them.”

“And doing so got her killed.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “If
it turns out I know her killer, I’m going to...”

He opened his eyes and their gazes locked. Anger stormed in the
deep brown depths of his eyes and a muscle jumped at his jaw. Cat gripped his
forearm and the muscles tensed beneath her fingers.

“You’re a good man, Jay. There’s nothing you could have done to
help her, because you knew nothing...right?”

Lifting her hand from his arm, he took her hands and pulled her
into the tight circle of his arms. Cat stiffened. Was he hiding his eyes from
her? She inhaled a deep breath and the comforting scent of him weakened her
stupid feminine resolve. She leaned into him, surrendering to the welcome feel
of his masculine strength around her and the broad flat width of his chest
against her cheek.

Her breath whispered across his T-shirt. “This is going to get
worse before it gets better, you know.”

“What is?” he asked, softly. “Looking for Sarah’s killer or
us?”

Cat pulled up straight. His eyes shone in the half-light and
her heart pulled to his. “Both. It’s both going to get worse.”

He brushed some fallen hair from her face. “I can handle it if
you can.”

Before Cat could respond, he dropped lips that tasted of
sweetened strength and burgeoning belief to hers. Moaning, she kissed him back
and wondered what the hell to do next. How was she supposed to keep accusing
him? Wondering? Suspecting? His lips moved against hers, the pressure increasing
and she didn’t fight him. She wanted this. Wanted to believe him an innocent and
good man.

It hurt like hell that she couldn’t.

She eased back. “Jay, not here. Not now. We have work to
do.”

He raised his hands in surrender. “You’re right. I’m
sorry.”

She nodded and turned away before she pulled him back to her.
“Okay, well, first I want us to comb this entire area. I don’t doubt the police
have done a thorough job, but until I know we’ve checked every square foot of
this marked space and beyond, I won’t be happy.”

He drew in a heavy breath behind her. “Then let’s get
started.”

* * *

N
IGHT
HAD
FALLEN
AS
Cat strode through
the patio doors of Jay’s cabin and onto the vast wooden veranda stretching its
width. She walked to the surrounding balustrade and crossed her arms tightly
around her torso. The forest in the distance drew her gaze and her mind’s eye
once again filled with images of Sarah’s smiling, happy face. Then those images
merged with the photos pinned crudely on the incident board at the police
station.

Instinct reared hot and heavy in her stomach as the suspicion
she’d had earlier gathered strength. Sarah knew her killer. Cat was sure of it.
The problem was, in a place like Templeton Cove, where everyone seemed to know
everyone, how did she start to narrow down possible suspects and eliminate
Jay?

She tipped her head back and squeezed her eyes shut. Growls of
anger and whimpers of fear reverberated in her head. Time and again, since
they’d scoured the crime scene, Cat could almost hear the murmur of Sarah’s
final conversation. Although by no means psychic, more often than not Cat sensed
a victim, felt their final moments ring with fear and loathing in her brain.

This time she sensed a man more than a woman with her friend.
Sarah knew him either intimately or maybe he was someone she’d known since
childhood. She felt their connection, felt her friend’s desperation to be heard.
Unable to hear what they said or even the timbre of their voices, Cat forced her
brain to the sounds and emotions coming from Sarah and her faceless companion.
Nothing but a barrage of white noise and the thundering of Cat’s blood came
through.

She opened her eyes and shivered. Purposefully turning her head
from the forest, Cat concentrated her gaze on the blinking lights and neon signs
of the Templeton Cove town center in the distance. It looked beautiful. The
picture-perfect holiday destination for fun and frolics, good times and
laughter, yet even the soft warm breeze drifting over her skin did nothing to
appease the tension aching at the base of her neck—or lessen the knowledge that
a seaside town could prove just as dangerous as an urban town like Reading.

She gripped the balustrade. Thoughts of Jay asking her to stay,
asking her to find out if anything still lingered between them mixed with
everything else on her mind. She couldn’t deny that something still burned
hotter than fire between them. It had shot through her heart like an arrow the
moment she’d realized it was him on the train. He was her friend, the person who
lifted her, believed in her. Every summer she willed her father to press harder
on the car accelerator so she could get closer to Jay’s smile, his spirit,
him.

When she left that final summer before her father died, neither
she nor Jay followed up with the other. Neither made sure they didn’t lose what
they had. What did that say about their relationship? Did it mean any love they
had wasn’t real? Or that they were both stupid enough to let a one-time love
slip through their fingers? Cat swallowed. They’d been stupid. Both of them. Now
their lives were tainted with addiction. Jay’s in the past. Hers in the present.
The stain ran deep.

Her gaze returned to the forest. Looking back provided little
more than a rose-tinted memory of Templeton and a rose-tinted memory of Jay.
They were all grown up now and if she proved his innocence in Sarah’s murder and
they tried to start anew, this time it wouldn’t be a one-time thing. She’d want
it for life or he’d break her heart. It wasn’t her fear he wouldn’t want the
same, it was the knowledge he would that frightened her.

Sarah would never enjoy another summer in Templeton—so why
should she? Was her dearest friend any guiltier of keeping secrets and telling
lies than she and Jay were? No. So Cat would return home and help her mum. Once
she was in recovery, maybe things would change.

She swiped at her cheek and shot a glance in the direction of
the patio doors. Jay had left the kitchen. Damn it. He could be watching her
from an upstairs window for all she knew. Could have seen her wiping her face
and known she cried. She turned back to the vista ahead and straightened her
shoulders. He couldn’t see her weakness. He would want to swoop in and fix her,
wipe her tears and kiss her lips.

She wasn’t handling her life well, buckling beneath the weight
of her inability, and Jay was an available, desired release. She had to resist
him no matter what. Yet she came to the Cove to solve a murder as well as
spending time being the old Cat. The Cat with a mother who cared for her, who
didn’t drink...who knew when her daughter was sad and lonely. She was away from
home and responsibility and, God help her, she’d relished the raw need in Jay’s
eyes in the forest. Enjoyed the way he looked at her like she was a real woman.
Not a savior or prop but a real bona fide woman whom he wanted to take to bed
and taste every part of.

Didn’t she have the right to feel human, loved and desired?
Even for a while?

The ringing of her cell phone startled her and Cat pulled it
from her back pocket without looking at the display. Her hand shook. She’d fight
her feelings for Jay. There was no alternative.

“Hello?”

“Good evening, little sis. How’s it going?”

Cat shot back to reality like a bullet from a gun. All thoughts
of Jay obliterated. “Chris.”

“The one and only.”