Nowhere to Turn (11 page)

“To make it look like a robbery gone wrong?” David said. “And he wasn’t expecting Janessa to be there. She might have taken him by surprise? He may not have even meant to kill her.”

“Maybe.” Adam narrowed his eyes. “Whoever it was, the fact remains that Stuart thinks you’re his and I don’t think he’s used to not getting what he wants.”

“You’re right. He’s not.” Dani stood, grabbed the letter, and stared at it as she paced to the door and back. “Then Stuart’s not out to kill me, he’s just out to get me.”

TUESDAY
DECEMBER 9

In a nervous habit he’d thought he’d kicked, Stuart snapped his fingers as he paced his home office. He wasn’t worried about finding Dani. He’d made sure he could find her whenever he wanted, but he didn’t want to move too soon. He had to think things through, figure out who he could trust to help him get Dani to see the light.

He just didn’t understand why she was running from him. He didn’t want to hurt her, he just wanted her to understand her place was with him.

But what if she never understood that? What if she kept pushing him away?

He shuddered. No, that wouldn’t happen. It couldn’t.

But what if it did?

Stuart wanted to shut the taunting inner voice up. Unfortunately, he couldn’t help wondering. He pictured Dani and tried to imagine his life without her, but couldn’t do it. He’d built this house for her, he’d saved almost every penny he could so he could take her to exotic locations and buy her fine jewelry.

But what if she continued to defy him? Reject him? What if she refused to see things his way?

Stunned, he considered the questions. The thought that he wouldn’t eventually wind up with Dani had never crossed his mind. It had never occurred to him that she would refuse him.

A coldness settled around him and he knew exactly what would have to happen if Dani continued to push him away.

A knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts. He placed Dani’s picture back on the mantel and went to look through the window.

Her.

He opened the door. “Hello, Butterfly.” Not her real name, of course, but it suited her. “You’re early.”

She pushed her bottom lip out in a pout. “I wanted to see you.”

He sighed and let her in. She went straight to his favorite chair and made herself comfortable. “Have you found Dani yet?”

“No, she’s off the grid for now, but I’m watching and will snag her when she comes back on. Are you still setting yourself up to be her hero?”

Stuart frowned. He never should have said anything to her about his plan. “Why do you care?”

Butterfly got up and walked over to him to wind her arms around his neck and place a kiss on his lips. “You know I’m here for you. Why do you insist on chasing a woman who keeps running from you?”

Stuart bit down on his tongue hard enough to draw blood. He wanted to push her away. Far, far away. But he still needed her, so he reined in his ire. “It’s not your business.”

Butterfly sighed and dropped her arms. “Why did you pull me from the gang, Stuart? Why didn’t you let me be taken in the raid? Why did you warn me if you weren’t going to keep me for your own?”

“Because I couldn’t leave you there.” She needed to hear the words. “Because there was something about you that I just couldn’t bear to see rot in a prison cell.” He gave her the answer she wanted. They both knew he never would have taken her in if she hadn’t been willing to be used by him. He needed her loyalty, her willingness to do whatever he asked. Right now he had that. He also couldn’t afford for her to suddenly turn on him.

“And yet you don’t want me.” She pouted.

He pulled her to him and kissed her. Hard. Then pushed her away. “Of course I do. And I need you.” Needed her to get to Dani. “Now stop this nonsense. We have work to do.”

“So you’re set on this?”

“Of course. And you said you’d help me.”

“And I did! I followed them to that place. I took a picture of the guy she left with. What else do you want me to do?”

“Set up the next thing. And I need it set up so I come out the hero.”

Butterfly scowled at him for a moment. He could see her hurt, her frustration. But she owed him. She’d never refuse him anything.

“What if she never comes around? What if she doesn’t want to be with you? Ever?”

He paused and stared at her. Hadn’t he just asked himself those very same questions minutes before? Only now, the answer was so simple, so clear. He sank into the leather chair and pulled up his favorite picture of Dani that he’d taken with his phone last Christmas. She had a smile on her face and the usual tension around her eyes had disappeared for a brief moment. He couldn’t remember what had made her laugh, but he’d snapped the picture and kept it. Only right now, it made him sad.

Because if Dani continued to defy him, she’d simply have to die.

Dani stared at the ceiling. She knew it was Tuesday and it was morning. And yet she couldn’t bring herself to crawl out of bed. The sheets felt wonderful, but the feeling of safety felt even better.

Then she remembered why she was there and frowned.

She couldn’t believe the turn her life had taken. Yes, she’d been an abused wife. Yes, she’d lived in fear for twelve years. But even then, at some point, the fear had become the norm. Now Kurt was dead and before she could even regain her footing or find some kind of routine, she’d been knocked for another loop.

The letter had been enough to send Dani skating too close to the edge of insanity. She’d crumpled the note on the table and walked to her room, slipped between the sheets, and promptly fallen asleep.

She couldn’t believe she’d actually slept, but supposed her body had said “enough.” Or maybe she just felt safe for the first time in a long time. No Kurt, no Stuart . . . she didn’t know. But whatever the reason, she was grateful for the rest.

She didn’t want to move but felt the need to check on Simon. He hadn’t disturbed her during the night, so she hoped that meant he’d slept well too.

Dani sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She padded down the hall and stopped when she spotted Simon’s empty bed. Her pulse rate shot up. “Simon?”

He wouldn’t hear her, of course, but saying his name aloud helped for some strange reason. Where was he? The bathroom?

She checked. Empty.

Dani hurried into the kitchen to find Simon munching on a bowl of cereal and laughing in between bites. Her fear drained away and she stared. Laughing? When was the last time she’d seen Simon laugh? Sorrow gripped her and with supreme effort she pushed it away. She wouldn’t dwell on that.

Adam lifted his hand and made another sign. Dani blinked. She didn’t recognize it. Again Simon laughed. He put down his
spoon and shook his head. “No, like this.” He shaped his small hand into the letter A. Then D. Then another A. And finally an M.

Adam copied him and did it well this time.

Simon offered a high five. “Good job.” As Simon brought his arm down, his elbow caught the edge of the bowl. Milk and cereal went flying. Simon shot to his feet, face pale, hands trembling. “I . . . I’m sorry.”

Dani moved farther into the room, ready to rush to her son’s defense. But she stopped, rooted by the look on Adam’s face.

Complete and utter compassion. “It’s okay. It’s fine.” He placed his thumb against his chest, five fingers spread, pointed upward. “Really, it’s not a problem.”

Simon blinked as though shocked Adam wasn’t angry.

Adam saw her watching. “Can you help me let him know it’s all right?”

She glanced between Simon and Adam. “I think he got the message.”

Adam grabbed a hand towel from the counter and handed it to Simon. Simon took it and began to clean up the mess. Adam pulled some paper towels from the roll and went to help him. Dani simply watched.

Watched them clean and watched her son let down his guard a fraction as he shot wondering looks at Adam in between his swipes.
Thank you, Lord, for spilled milk
.

When they finished cleaning it up, Simon looked at her, then Adam. To Adam, he said, “You didn’t get mad.”

Adam shrugged. “It was an accident.”

“But—” Simon took a deep breath. “Yes. It was. Thanks for helping me clean it up.”

Adam smiled. “Anytime you need help, you just ask, all right?”

Dani signed the words to make sure Simon understood. He nodded, then slipped past her and down the hall.

“Is he going to be all right?”

She watched her son, then turned to Adam. “He’s probably processing everything. He’ll be fine.”

“Kurt would have yelled?”

“Kurt would have hit.”

Adam’s jaw tightened and a muscle jumped underneath his left eye. “I wish Kurt was still alive.”

She jerked. “What?”

“Yeah. So I could pound on him for a while.”

Dani let out a humorless laugh. “Don’t. It’s not worth it.”

“I know.” He sighed. “So—” he smiled—“good morning.”

“Good morning.”

“Are you ready for some more news?”

“Good or bad?”

“It depends on how you look at it.”

She blew out a sigh. “Sure. Bring it on.”

Adam led the way into the kitchen. David sat at the table, studying a computer. He looked up when she entered. “Hey there, how are you doing?”

“Hanging in there, thanks.” She shot him a smile that eased some of the worry he felt.

Next to David were the letter and the other items from the safe. “In the past six months that you’ve had this stuff, Stuart’s never asked for it?”

“No.”

“But he went to your house the day Kurt was killed to get something from the safe.”`

“Yes.”

“And he was angry enough to chase you down for it.”

Dani sat down and studied the items. “I thought so at the time,
but now I’m not so sure he was chasing me down for the contents of the safe. He may have been chasing me for other reasons. Like to simply stop me from running.”

“What makes you think that?” Adam took a chair next to Dani. He had his own thoughts, but wanted to hear hers.

“Kurt and Stuart worked together, but didn’t like each other. Kurt was with the FBI division that works with gun trafficking. Stuart is with the gang unit. Kurt used Stuart whenever it suited his purposes, but I don’t think he would have given Stuart anything that could be used against him later.”

“Like evidence of something illegal?”

“Yes.”

Adam scooted his chair closer. “So, we’ve got a stack of money.”

“Yes. I used a little, but not much.”

“And Kurt left everything to you?”

She cleared her throat. “Yes. Which I find very strange. I thought he’d leave me destitute and out on the street. Just when I think I understand him, he does something like this.”

“It might not be so strange. Was Kurt’s reputation important to him?”

She gave a harsh laugh. “It was everything. That’s why on the outside we looked like the perfect family.”

“Then he wouldn’t want that reputation ruined after his death. If he hadn’t made sure you were taken care of in the event that he died, people would have talked about that.”

She frowned. “True. Which is the conclusion I came to about why he left me survivor benefits in his pension plan.”

“And it sounds like he didn’t plan on you being around long enough to use the money anyway.”

“Right,” she muttered.

“Take a look at this.” David turned the laptop he’d been studying.

Dani leaned in and Adam got a whiff of her unique scent. He liked it.
Focus, man
.

“A video.”

“Yeah. Dani, you want to take a look and tell us anything you can about it?”

Dani stared at the video playing out on the laptop screen.

Adam paused the video. “Who are those guys?”

Dani ran a trembling hand through her hair. “The one in the chair is the one they killed.”

“Trennan Eisenberg.”

“Yes.”

“What about the others?”

She pointed to the man on the left. “That’s Peter Hastings. He was at the house a lot. If Kurt was able to have a close friend, that’s who it would be.”

Adam nodded. “Blake checked to see if there’s anyone who might owe Kurt a favor or who might feel obligated to do something above and beyond for Kurt.”

“Did he find anyone?”

“Just Peter Hastings and a guy named Joseph Duncan.”

“Joe. He and Kurt weren’t that close, I don’t believe, but I think they worked together sometimes,” Dani said. “Hastings and Kurt worked together a lot. Joe works more with Stuart—I think they’re partners. I’ve never met him. And Kurt saved Joe’s life twice.”

Adam gave a low whistle. “That would inspire some loyalty in a fellow.”

David nodded. “Enough to commit murder for him?”