Jace’s Jewel Read online

  She flashed him a bright smile. “Well, it’s morning. I’m not sure it’s a good one. As I had a mostly crappy night. But, hey, I’m willing to be convinced today will be better.” Her gaze slid to Logan and back again. “Any news?” she asked hopefully.

  Jace shook his head. “I met the mother of the first victim pulled out of the river. She’s struggling.”

  “Manila. Her name is Manila. She was always a very doting mother. Ronnie was her only child,” Emily said. “I’m sure she must be devastated.”

  “Is she the beneficiary?”

  “I believe his second wife and Manila are both beneficiaries.”

  “You’re heading into the office now?” Logan asked. “Do you have copies of the policies?”

  “I can get them for you. If you want to follow me there, I can give you a copy. If not, I can send you a PDF.”

  “We’ll go to your office,” Jace said. “We’re out running errands as it is. It’s easy to pick that up too.”

  She returned to her car, calling over her shoulder, “See you there in a few minutes.” She hopped back inside and drove off.

  When she arrived, Wilson was at the front door. Almost as if he was waiting for her. She hurried toward him. “Sorry I’m late.”

  He shrugged. “You work longer and harder than anybody else. If you’re a little late, it’s not a big deal.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate that. I had a terrible night.”

  “I didn’t have a bad night, but the kids this morning …” Wilson sighed. “Anyone who has a family in this day and age …” He rolled his eyes at her.

  She chuckled. “And you love them dearly.”

  “Did you write the check for the Ronnie Williamson case?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Any reason why?”

  “I’m waiting to see if the investigation reveals anything.”

  “Unless the wife or mother is involved in Ronnie’s death, which I doubt is the case, no need to wait. They still split the insurance benefits.”

  “Yes, but it’s an ongoing investigation.” She studied him. “I guess I was looking for closure first on their different cases before we paid out,” Emily said.

  “The company won’t be very happy if you write four checks in the amount of one million dollars all on the same day,” he said jokingly. “Keep that in mind.”

  She sighed. “They wouldn’t be happy if I wrote four one-dollar checks on the same day,” she said gently. “To be honest, insurance companies are not fond of paying out no matter the amount.”

  “Maybe but with good reason. It’s very hard to collect the money if need be once it’s paid out.”

  “Exactly why I was waiting. I don’t think Manila or Rose had anything to do with it. But my instincts are telling me to wait.”

  He shot her a sharp look. “In that case, wait. Your instincts haven’t let you down yet.”

  As she walked to her cubicle, she wondered what her instincts were telling her about Jace. That man’s voice was doing things to her psyche that she hadn’t felt in a long time. Yet the last thing she wanted right now was a relationship. Not when she was mentally and emotionally saying goodbye to three men she’d cared about. But it was hard to ignore Jace. Especially when she was as interested as she was.

  The man was dynamite.

  But was that a good thing for her?

  As if reading her thoughts, Jace walked down the hall toward her, his walk determined, his gaze focused on her face.

  “That was fast.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “We followed you.”

  She nodded. “My desk is over here.” She glanced around. “Are you alone?”

  “Logan is downstairs.”

  She motioned to her visitor’s chair. “Take a seat.” She brought up the folder with the paperwork he wanted. She quickly sent the document to the printer, then walked to the big office unit all the staff shared. She pulled the sheets from the printer, returned to her desk, and held them out. “Here you go.”

  He took a look. “Have you contacted any of the families?”

  She nodded as she sat. “Of course. We have to deal with the families of the owner of the policy and the beneficiary.”

  “In this case they are the same group of people.”

  She glanced up and caught an odd look in his eye. She frowned at him. “What?”

  “I meant, have you contacted any of the families personally?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I want to. I don’t know what I’d say. The fact that I work for the insurance company makes it that much more awkward.”

  “Have you been to the accident scene?”

  She felt a whisper of pain through her spine to her toes. “No. But I want to go. I should contact Manila.” She sighed. “The money will never compensate for the loss of her son.”

  “No, it won’t.” Jace stood. “I’ll update you when I know something.” He turned and walked out.

  She watched him saunter away, the walk of a man accustomed to command. A man capable with purpose. His loose-limbed walk moved at a steady pace. Forward toward his goal, not racing toward it and careful not to miss any details along the way. He’d probably make a hell of an insurance investigator.

  Still, now that he’d mentioned it, she wanted to visit the river and see the accident site for herself.

  *

  “Did you learn anything interesting?” Logan asked as the two men walked to the vehicle. “We could’ve gotten a digital copy without stopping here.”

  Jace glanced at Logan. “Except she’s one of the suspects. And we need to know what she’s like.”

  Logan raised an eyebrow. “You think she had something to do with these murders?”

  “We don’t know they are all murders yet, but she has a connection to all four. If something is going on, chances are it has something to do with her.”

  “Still, you weren’t in there more than ten minutes. What could you possibly find out?”

  “She’s got stacks and stacks of files on either side of her desk. She handles difficult cases. She doesn’t close anything until she’s gone through it thoroughly. And she’s dedicated.”

  Logan glanced at him. “That’s a big assessment for the few minutes you were in there.”

  “I also heard two other staff members talking about her as I walked past. Something about her being promoted because she was one of those zealots on the job.”

  Logan snorted. “In other words, she did her job, and the others didn’t, so that pissed them off.” He drove this time, directing the vehicle out of the lot. “Let’s head to the street where the last two died. It’s not far from here.”

  They drove in silence until they were a few blocks away from the accident site. Out of the blue, Logan said, “And then there’s the fact that you really like her.”

  “What’s not to like?” Jace countered. “But I don’t need the headache of a relationship and never with someone involved in a case.”

  “I think we all thought that at the beginning. But not anymore.”

  “The men in her life die,” Jace said. “Not sure I want to sign up for that.”

  That startled a laugh out of Logan. He glanced at Jace to see if he was joking.

  Jace gave him a flat stare in response. “Yes, I’m joking but maybe not.”

  Logan rolled his eyes. “Or there’s another reason to clear her of all this mess. Then maybe you can move on with that attraction between you two.”

  “I don’t think she knows what she wants on her side.”

  “Four people she knew just died. I doubt she’s looking, thinking, or feeling anything at the moment other than shock and grief.”

  “She’s grieving but doesn’t know how. She feels guilty, and she doesn’t think she has the right.”

  “How do you know that?” Logan asked. “Man, you were only in there for a few minutes.”

  “She had the map of the river with the accident site up on one of her monitors. She had the file open, showing the loc
ation where the two men drowned.”

  “You think she’ll head out to each of them?”

  “I think she feels it will help her solve the case. If only to reassure herself that she had nothing to do with any of this.”

  “That makes sense,” Logan said.

  “It doesn’t mean she’ll find anything though. And that could be because there is nothing to find.”

  “You believe that?” Logan asked as he pulled onto Lyle and Sicily’s street. “I don’t see how the deaths of four men, all cousins, couldn’t be related. I suspect somebody farther down the family tree. Individuals will slowly die off once the life insurance policies are paid out. Leaving one person a total of four million dollars, if not more, the richer.”

  Jace whistled, the sound echoing inside the car. “That’s a very long game. Most people don’t have the patience for that. They kill one person and get one million dollars, and they’re good.”

  “Only for a little while until the killing links directly to them. What if they are killing off family members so someone else inherits? Either to help them with the plan or to get the money from them later?”

  “And how do we know the whole family is into this insurance stuff?” Jace shook his head. “No way to know anything for sure yet.”

  “If you get a strong patriarch who believes in life insurance, his beliefs pass to the extended families.” Logan shrugged. “Hence you get families with several members having life insurance.”

  “Plus term life insurance is a sure bet and less expensive than all the rest. I mean, you expect a payout for your beneficiary, unless you commit suicide. Whereas with home and car insurance, you’re betting against the house, paying out all that money monthly in case you have one future disaster.”

  The two men got out of the truck and walked up the block, passing the two accident scenes, their gazes constantly shifting. This was suburbia with one million streets like this in the States. Cookie-cutter homes, cookie-cutter lives.

  They knocked on the neighbor’s door to the left of Lyle’s house. They moved to the next one over and then split up and knocked on the houses on both sides. No one was home. Jace finally found somebody at home in the third house to the right. An elderly lady answered, but she hadn’t seen or heard anything. He wasn’t sure she could hear well. At the end of a very frustrating but short conversation, she closed the door in his face, leaving him waiting and wondering just what had happened.

  Shaking his head, he turned and walked down the street. Typical of a suburban community like this, both spouses worked in Austin and commuted home. They all slept here, but nobody worked here because no work was to be had. Jace tried a few more houses but found them empty. When he walked back toward Lyle’s house, he met up with Logan again. “Nobody’s home,” Jace said. “One elderly lady answered her door but was of no help.”

  “Did you knock on the wife’s door?”

  Jace shook his head. “A white SUV is in the driveway. So I’ll assume she’s not only home but she has company.”

  They quickly jotted down the license plate number, then got back into their truck.

  Jace said, “That could be anybody though. She just lost a husband. She could have a sister or friend visiting.”

  “Yes, but isn’t she also the one who Emily found in her fiancé’s bed?”

  “You think she’s sleeping around already?” Jace frowned. It wouldn’t surprise him if that was the case, but somehow humanity still managed to surprise him. “And the vehicle belongs to …” Jace spoke mainly to himself as he opened his laptop, brought up the license plate number, and read out loud, “Jimmy Burton. Age thirty-four. He’s an accountant.”

  “Any relationship to the wife?”

  “Looking …” He shook his head. “Not that I can see. He was married for two years and divorced last year.”

  “And Lyle’s wife?”

  “According to the reports Ice gave us, she has a high school education but doesn’t work. She’s a stay-at-home wife. Probably the only one on the block.”

  “And my mind immediately wonders what she’s doing with so much time on her hands.”

  “Exactly. Yet we could be completely wrong.” Jace turned on the engine. “I suggest we see the detective and get an update.”

  “Already sent him a text. Waiting to hear back.”

  Then Jace’s phone rang. “Ice, what’s up?”

  “I spoke with the coroner about the third and fourth victims. He’s finalizing his reports now but gave me the heads-up.”

  “And?”

  “The third victim, Lyle Cowichan, had severe head trauma. The vehicle compounded that. The report confirms the victim was dead before the vehicle ran over him. The fourth victim, Richard Manton, was drowned. Water was found in his lungs. Even though he was found dead in his car.”

  Jace turned to look at Logan. “The fourth victim was drowned.” He pulled back into traffic. “This is getting weirder and weirder.”

  Chapter 4

  As soon as Jace left, Emily couldn’t get the idea out of her mind to visit the site of the two men’s drowning. She often went out in the field for things related to work. But this time it was personal. She considered asking for a day or two off work, but they were swamped. And seriously so. Now was not a good time.

  It was never a good time for a death in the family, though they were no longer family. She’d had no contact with them since she broke off the relationships with each of the three men. Although she hurt for the family, those weren’t close deaths as far as the company was concerned. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t well within the scope of her job to take a look at the accident site. She burrowed deeper into the files. The more work she got done the better. She could leave early if she got something more accomplished.

  By the time she lifted her head, it was late already. She groaned and looked outside. Being summertime, the sun was still above the trees. It’d probably take close to an hour to get to the river location. She didn’t want to leave it until tomorrow. She shut down her computer, got up, grabbed her purse, and walked out.

  She waved at Wilson, who was still in his office, talking on the phone. He looked like he was having a hard time. Often these late-in-the-day phone calls came from the head office.

  She knew the company had taken some serious hits with all the flooding across the state. And it would continue for months. Still she couldn’t do anything but churn through the paperwork as fast as she could. They had investigators going from place to place, looking at the damage and sending in reports. Other staff processed those as well. But she was the one with the suspicious cases.

  She hadn’t talked to Ice yet, but, after seeing Jace this morning, she figured there wasn’t anything important to report or Ice would have contacted Emily herself.

  First she drove toward Lyle’s house. It only took fifteen minutes to get through traffic. She parked on the same street, got out, and walked. Bloodstains remained on the pavement where he’d supposedly been run over. She stood and stared. Thinking that she’d almost married him was even more upsetting.

  She turned to study the house where he’d lived with Sicily. It was a simple clone of the houses on either side. She’d never thought he’d like that style of home. But then she hadn’t expected him to be enthralled with the idea of that whole marriage scenario either, yet he’d proposed to her out of the blue and with great enthusiasm. She didn’t know when he had decided she wasn’t enough and that his current wife was a much better pick. His decision had certainly turned her off of marriage. He, on the other hand, had jumped into it quickly, and they’d managed six months of wedded bliss. She was happy for him. Glad to hear he’d been happy at the end. For a time there, she’d been anything but happy.

  She had been devastated and angry. How did one handle coming home to find her fiancé in bed with a strange woman? She’d gone downstairs and made coffee. The girlfriend had walked out with a big smirk on her face. Her fiancé had come down and apologized profusely. When s
he didn’t give in, he swore at her. Called her names. Said it was her fault. She shook her head at the memory. According to him, she was the unreasonable one. If that was what made her unreasonable, then she’d accept that.

  The fact that he was several steps out of sync with reality wasn’t something he was prepared to look at. But after he’d done some screaming, then he’d calmed down and asked for a few of his things that were still in her house. She’d left those out on the front step. Not wanting to stay there—thankfully it was a rental, with a month-to-month lease—she’d packed up and moved to an apartment. The bad memories were too much for her.

  She turned her gaze to the neighborhood, then brought out her camera and took several images. A vehicle was parked in the driveway of his house. She walked past it and took an image, capturing the license plate and the make and model. If she could do one thing for him, it was to make sure his insurance was paid out correctly. He’d always been a big one for insurance. Maybe that could have been some of the attraction he’d felt toward her.

  Did he have any inkling he would die so young?

  She wasn’t up to talking to Sicily, Lyle’s widow, right now. If ever. As it was, Emily didn’t want Sicily to see her walking up and down the street. She had every right to be here, but that wouldn’t make Sicily feel any better. And Emily wasn’t here to cause trouble. She was here to make sure there was no trouble.

  Back in her vehicle she sat in the driver’s seat, pulled up her notes, and jotted down the thoughts coming to her. The vehicle in the driveway bothered her. She already knew Sicily was a cheater, so Emily had to wonder if another boyfriend was already in the mix.

  As she watched, Sicily, still as pretty as ever, came outside with a young man in tow. At the SUV he bent down and kissed her gently on the lips, got into the vehicle, and drove away.

  “Wow. Now that is interesting.”

  She shook her head and watched as Sicily stood, her fingers on her lips, staring after the vehicle. Then her gaze swept the area as if looking to see if anybody was watching. Instinctively Emily shrank down in her seat so she couldn’t be seen.

  After a moment, Sicily turned and walked back inside. Emily jotted down the date, the woman’s actions, then started the car. In the back of her mind she wondered if this case was even related to the two drowning cases. Or had Sicily wanted to be free again? As well as gain a nice chunk of change at the same time?