Imperfect Justice (10 page)

“A
re you coming down with something?” Rayne asked Misty as they sat in the diner. Misty had been busy with preparations for moving – packing, turning utilities on in Seattle, among other things.

She and Jared had kept to their bargain. Neither of them had called the other since that night. She’d seen him once at the pizza place but they’d simply smiled and nodded. Just as casual friends might.

Misty didn’t want to think about how she’d reacted. Her pulse had sped up and her palms started to sweat. Even her stomach had gone fluttery when he was near.

She couldn’t get their night together out of her mind. She thought about it constantly, torturing herself in the middle of the night. She needed to move on and packing her apartment was a good start.

“I think I might be,” Misty admitted. “All I do in the evenings is lie on the recliner and fall asleep in front of the television.”

Rayne wrinkled her nose. “Is your throat sore? That’s usually how it starts. Body aches? Fever? Stuffy nose?”

Misty shook her head. “Just tired. Maybe it’s stress from the move or something.”

Rayne sighed, her mouth turned down. “I’m going to miss you so much. I swear you’re the only person around here I can talk to. You know, really talk to.”

“What about your sister?”

“I love my sister but she and I are different people. I want to be there for her now that she’s pregnant but she’s not making it easy. Her hormones must be on the rampage because she’s been having these tantrums. When she wants something she wants it now, and she expects all of us to drop whatever we’re doing and run and it get for her while she sits back like Jabba the Hutt. Even Mike has about had it and he’s in love with her.”

“What does your mom say?” Misty asked. Rayne was close to her mother even though she lived in Florida.

“My mom says Camy is using her pregnancy as an excuse to act like a bitch and that we all need to take a stand or she’ll be even worse when the baby comes. She mentioned doing some sort of dance in the moonlight for the Goddess.” Rayne rolled her eyes and groaned. Rayne’s mother could only be described as eccentric. “I can’t imagine her getting worse but Mom might have a point. I’m not too worried about it though. She’s planning to fly up here when Camy has the baby, and if you know my mom you know she’ll put my sister in her place within five minutes. I can’t wait to see it.”

Misty had never met Rayne’s mom but she sounded like a formidable woman despite her mystical air.

“It sounds like you’ll be too busy with your sister to miss me but we can Skype. I hope you’ll come visit soon too. Maybe in the summer. That’s supposed to be a nice time of year in Seattle.”

Rayne waved to get the attention of the waitress. “I’m already tired of the cold and snow. Every winter seems longer than the last. That reminds me. How’s your car doing since you got it out of the shop? No problems?”

Did everything have to remind Misty of Jared? If her car hadn’t broken down he wouldn’t have given her a ride home. And if he hadn’t given her a ride home…

“No problems, although I’m glad I won’t be needing it so much after I move. Eventually I’ll have to save for a new one.”

The waitress finally made it to their table, pad and pencil in hand. “Anything else or just the check?”

“Refills for both of us,” Rayne replied. “And maybe a slice of that apple pie with ice cream on top.”

The woman scribbled something down and smiled. “I’ll have that right out to you. Good choice, by the way. The pie was freshly made this morning and smells wonderful. How about some caramel sauce on top?”

“Perfect,” Rayne agreed, mirroring the woman’s smile. “I love apple and caramel.”

The waitress bustled back to the kitchen and Misty’s gaze went to the front windows and Main Street. The sheriff’s station was only a block down. It was Saturday but Jared might be working. Misty didn’t know much about law enforcement but she’d heard they worked strange hours.

Just stop.

She was doing it again. Daydreaming about Jared when she should be doing something else. Anything else.

“You know, you’ve been acting weird lately. Is there anything you want to talk about? Are you second-guessing your decision to move?”

Misty hadn’t told Rayne about her night with Jared. She didn’t know what to say or how to explain what made her do it. And she sure as hell didn’t know how she felt about him now. Until she was clear in her mind she didn’t know how to talk about it.

“No,” Misty said firmly. “I’ve been waiting for years to leave. This is absolutely the right thing to do. And I haven’t been acting weird. I’ve just been preoccupied with all the things I need to get done before I leave. I have a bunch of packing still to do.”

“I’ll help you with that. We’ll have it done in no time.”

The waitress slid the slab of caramel apple pie in between them. Two scoops of vanilla ice cream melted on top leaving a milky pool on the plate. The strong aroma of apples and cinnamon wafted around Misty’s nose and her stomach heaved in her abdomen. Eyes watering, she tried to pretend she wasn’t bothered.

She failed.

“Holy crap, are you okay? You look positively green.” Rayne looked down at the plate of apple pie and ice cream. “Since when does apple pie make you sick?”

“It’s not,” Misty denied, although she couldn’t even look at the plate. The ice cream had melted even more and was mixing with the caramel into some sort of milk soup that turned her stomach until bile was in the back of her throat. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. You’re the color of a Martian from outer space.” Rayne’s gaze never wavered from Misty’s face. “You really are sick, aren’t you? I think we need to get you home and into bed. The sooner you start resting up the sooner you’ll get better.” Rayne signaled for the check and began to gather her purse and gloves. “Let’s head home and I’ll make you a nice cup of herbal tea. That should settle your stomach. You must be coming down with the flu.”

A feeling of dread settled in Misty’s chest. She’d been staring at her calendar every single day since that night with Jared. Waiting.

“Can we make a stop first?” Misty asked, her voice quavering with emotion.

“Sure, where do you want to go?” Rayne paid the bill – it was her turn – and pulled car keys from her purse.

“A drug store. Preferably one out of town where no one knows me.”

Rayne’s brows were furrowed but then understanding crossed her features. “Oh God. Are you sure?”

“No.” Misty shook her head, feeling miserable but not from the smells any longer. “It’s just a hunch. It’s early yet. But apple and cinnamon has never made me nauseous before.”

“The sooner you find out for sure the better. Let’s go,” Rayne said brusquely. “Everything is going to be alright.”

If Misty’s suspicions were true, nothing would ever be the same again.

Lindsey Hicks looked completely different from the woman Jared had seen in the courtroom five years ago. Then her hair had been long and lifeless, her body stick thin, and her face pale and gray. She’d had a perpetually sullen look that had struck Jared as almost petulant as she’d sat there during Boyd’s trial. When the verdict had come down, she’d walked out of the courtroom without a look back at her husband.

The woman before Jared today didn’t have much in common with the former female. Dark hair was trimmed and styled so it curled around her chin. Her face was carefully and skillfully made up and her body was no longer emaciated. In khaki pants and an argyle sweater she looked every inch the happy housewife in a middle-class suburban neighborhood.

Lindsey sat across from Jared in the comfortable living room decorated in green and gold. There were pictures of a small young girl on the mantle which he knew from his research was the daughter Tilly who was currently in foster care. He’d also learned that Lindsey had a court date coming up to try and regain custody of her daughter. Currently she was only allowed supervised visits.

“So how can I help you, Sheriff?”

“I appreciate you talking with me, Mrs. Hicks. As you know I’m here to talk about your ex-husband Boyd.”

“Jackson,” she corrected, her posture going stiff. “It’s Lindsey Jackson now. And as I told you on the phone, I’m not sure how I can help you. I haven’t seen Boyd in years – not since his sentencing.”

Jared pulled out a small notebook and a pen. “You didn’t talk to him on the phone or visit him?”

“No, by the time Boyd was sentenced I knew I needed to get clean. I knew I couldn’t do that if I was still married to him.”

She certainly seemed to have turned her life around. No one would ever need to know about her less than pristine past. Jared had seen very few people overcome addiction and he had a great respect for this woman for doing just that.

“But you almost died from an OD several months later,” he reminded her. “And you didn’t file for divorce from Boyd for another six months after that.”

Her hand fluttered to her throat and her composure slipped for a moment. “I’m not sure I can explain how time feels when you are…under the influence.”

“You don’t have to,” he assured her. “I’m just trying to understand the events of the last five years.”

“The only thing that is important to me is my daughter. I just want to make sure that Boyd stays away from her. Can you keep him from seeing her?”

Lindsey’s tone was urgent and she’d leaned forward, her eyes pleading.

“Do you have any reason to believe that Boyd knows where your daughter is residing?”

Jared could find out where Tilly was living, but unless there was some credible threat to her life he couldn’t really do anything except warn the foster parents not to let the young girl out alone where Boyd might be able to kidnap her.

“Well…no. But I don’t want him to have access to her.”

Jared scratched down a note to check on whether Boyd had inquired about visiting his daughter.

“I’ll check on whether he’s tried to see her. Do you think he would hurt her, Mrs. Jackson? Harm her in some way?”

The woman’s cheeks had turned red and those hands that had fluttered uselessly before were balled into fists. “Just being around her would be awful. He’ll lead her down a bad path just as he led me. My addiction is all his fault and I won’t let that happen to Tilly.”

He didn’t want to upset her any longer so he changed the subject.

“What can you tell me about Dale Hicks and his relationship with Boyd?”

Lindsey’s mouth twisted and her gaze dropped. “That’s complicated.”

“What do you mean by that?”

She looked back up at Jared. “Dale and Boyd are very competitive.”

Jared felt the phone in his shirt pocket vibrate but he’d let the call go to voicemail. This was too important to allow interruptions.

“Boyd said Dale framed him for the robbery. Why would he do that?”

“They were always angry with each other for some slight, real or imagined. Both of them have a mean streak to boot. If Dale had twenty dollars Boyd wanted twenty dollars too. Plus Dale’s twenty. And vice versa.”

That sounded like what Jared knew of the two men. Citizens of the year they were not.

“Do you think Dale actually framed Boyd?”

“Why would I know anything about that? I’m just as in the dark as you.” She stood, obviously agitated, and walked over to the fireplace where pictures of her daughter sat. “I’m just worried about Tilly. You don’t think they’ll let him see her, do you?”

He had to be honest. “I honestly don’t know, Mrs. Jackson. I’m not really involved in that type of law.”

Her fingers glided over a few picture frames lovingly. “I just want to put my past behind me. Are we done?”

“I do have one last question. When he was sentenced, Boyd threatened the Fielding sheriff’s department because he felt we had helped convict him wrongly. Did he ever talk to you about that?”

Shaking her head, she walked to the windows that overlooked the front yard. “My husband is home so I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to go now. He doesn’t like reminders of my past. For obvious reasons.”

“So he did or didn’t say anything about it?” Jared didn’t want to leave without the answer.

Lindsey opened the front door letting in a blast of cold air. “He didn’t say anything. Now can you please go? I don’t want my husband upset.”

Jared stood to leave. “Thank you for your time. I do appreciate it.” He pulled a business card from his pocket and handed it to her. “If Boyd, Dale, or anyone from the Hicks family tries to contact you, please let me know.”

She nodded and Jared pulled on his coat and exited the house. A large muscular man was getting out of a black pick up truck in the driveway – the kind with oversized tires and fancy multi-colored pin striping on the side and tailgate.

“Honey, is everything okay?” the man asked, his gaze darting back and forth between his wife and Jared.

“It’s nothing. Come in out of the cold and I’ll tell you all about it.” Lindsey slid her arm through her husband’s and tugged him toward the front door but the man wouldn’t be hurried. Jared stuck out his hand and introduced himself.

“I’m Sheriff Jared Monroe of Fielding.”

With one arm draped protectively around his wife’s shoulders, the husband shook Jared’s hand. “Dave Jackson. Are you here about Boyd Hicks? We heard he was out.”

“I am. I just had a few questions. I do appreciate your wife’s time. If you hear from him please let me know.”

“Will do.” Dave Jackson nodded, his expression solemn. “I don’t want him anywhere near Lindsey.”

“That makes two of us. Thank you again.”

“Thank you for stopping by, Officer.”

The couple walked into the house and closed the door behind them while Jared headed to his vehicle. Swinging into his SUV, he pulled out his phone to see who had called earlier. He cursed a blue streak as he listened to the voicemail. As was becoming the norm, the shit had hit the fan at home and he needed to go put it right before things got worse.

Right now Jared needed to have a serious talk with his father.

Chapter Eight