Jace’s Jewel Read online

  Emily would look into the case a little further.

  Next she headed to the river where the two cousins had lost their lives. She drove to the parking lot near one of the entrances to the path along the river. She wasn’t exactly sure where the accident happened, but, as soon as she got onto the path, she could see it easily enough. Scars still ran alongside the road from where the vehicles had gone into the river. Although the water had receded in many areas, the river was wider than normal, and the path had been washed away or was still underwater. She stood in awe of the power of Mother Nature. So much water was still here.

  “Those poor men.”

  She slowly walked along the new path created by the many people who had been to this area. It wasn’t anywhere near safe, but it was up out of the water and back a foot or two.

  As she stared at the water, she realized that even being a strong swimmer wouldn’t have helped if they got caught up in any of the debris in the river. It wasn’t a nice thought, but she knew it happened all too often. These brave souls gave their lives to help others without a thought that they might be the ones who needed saving.

  As she viewed the devastation, her mind crept forward to consider murder. Such a horrible thought. Especially in this case. Why would anybody do something like that to two volunteers here to help others?

  It made no sense. She knew that humans were often twisted and what she thought people should be doing was not even on their radar. She wasn’t one to see the bad side of people, but it came with her career.

  That somebody might have killed two unpaid rescuers … boggled her mind.

  Up ahead was a lone woman, sitting on a large rock. Emily’s steps faltered. Was it her? She hadn’t seen Manila in a decade.

  As Emily approached, the woman looked up and frowned. Her gaze went back to the river. Emily couldn’t help but feel she was intruding. As she walked closer, she asked, “Excuse me, are you Manila?”

  The woman turned slowly to look at her, and she nodded. “I am. Who are you?”

  Emily gave her a small smile and introduced herself. “Ronnie was my husband a long time ago, for a short while after high school.”

  Manila didn’t just smile, all her wrinkles reformed into a breathtaking look. “Emily? How lovely to see you. Ronnie was so happy when he was with you.”

  At that Emily smiled. “We were happy. We were young, and, for a while, we were happy.”

  The smile fell off Manila’s face.

  “I’m sorry for your loss, Manila,” Emily said, sitting next to Manila and squeezing her hand. “I came because I found it so hard to believe they are gone. Both were such strong men.”

  Manila shook her head. “It shouldn’t have happened. They knew these waters like no one else. They grew up swimming in the river. They only became close as adults, but, once that bond was forged, … they were like brothers.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  For a long moment the two women sat in silence, staring at the water that had taken their loved ones away. Finally Manila stood and said, “I have to go home. These old bones of mine don’t like the water as much anymore.”

  Emily hesitated, wondering if she should say something to her. “Did the police talk to you about the accident at all?” she asked before Manila turned away.

  Manila nodded. “They asked a few questions but not much. I spoke to a man earlier, told him it couldn’t have been an accident. That I wanted somebody to find the truth. And I’m afraid nobody can tell the truth because, when there’s a killer, he usually is as dark and deep and silent as these rivers.”

  “Why would anybody want to kill those two men?” Emily asked softly, barely keeping her tears back.

  Manila raised her eyes, displaying an ageless despair. “I don’t know. I can’t think of any reason except jealousy, rage, and greed.” On that odd note, she turned and slowly walked back up the hill.

  Emily could only stand and stare, tears in her eyes. Please let these men not have met foul play. That would be so much more painful for this family to bear.

  *

  As Jace and Logan drove back to the hotel later that night, their headlights shone bright in the darkness outside. Jace picked his foot off the gas pedal as he headed into a curve. “This job seems like it’ll be more of a paper chaser.”

  Logan snorted. “This isn’t the type of job we usually get, working with Levi and Ice. But, yeah, a paper-chasing job isn’t for me at all. Ice, Sierra, and Sienna will have a heyday with this one.”

  “Maybe,” Jace said thoughtfully. “We need to talk to somebody from TxSAR, see if there’s any chance these men could’ve been murdered in front of the rest of the team.”

  “That’s the part that bugs me. If they were all together as a group, surely somebody would’ve seen something. I hate to say it, but I’m thinking it must be another male—and most likely one of the other volunteer members.”

  “I was trying to avoid thinking about that. It goes against the grain to think that somebody would kill another team member.”

  “But just because we’re all close, we’ve still seen other units that did not jive well. And often one person was at odds with everyone.”

  “That’s true enough. But, more often than not, we were at odds with the brass, not with each other,” Jace joked.

  Logan nodded. “Ice will have a connection within TxSAR. We have to find out who was at the scene and interview them ourselves.”

  “That’s tomorrow’s agenda.”

  Jace’s phone rang. Keeping an eye on the road, he pulled it from his pocket and checked to see who it was. He handed his cell over to Logan. “I don’t recognize the number. Answer it for me?”

  Logan put the phone on Speaker and said, “Hello, who’s there?”

  “Who is this?” Emily said, her voice suspicious.

  Logan shot Jace a wicked grin. “It’s Logan. Jace is driving, but the phone is on Speaker, so he can hear you.”

  “Emily, what’s up?” Jace asked. He let a silly grin slip out. It was dark, and nobody could see it anyway. Besides it was good to hear that voice. If she ever went into sales, she’d make a killing.

  “I just left the river site. I talked to Manila. She seems to think something is wrong here.”

  “I know. I spoke to her myself. Remember? Yet she had no evidence of any wrongdoing.”

  “Maybe but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any to find.”

  She hung up before Jace could say anything else. Under his breath he whispered, “Damn.”

  “That voice of hers …” Logan said.

  “I know.” Jace grinned. “Now what?”

  The two glanced at each other, and Logan shrugged. “We wait … again.”

  “So much of what we do is waiting.”

  “But when the action hits, it hits hard and fast,” Logan said in a delighted tone. “Best damn job ever.”

  Jace chuckled. “I can’t argue that.”

  “You haven’t been doing this for very long. Neither have I, but I’ll tell you. Rhodes, Merk, and Stone started with Levi, and it’s been rock ’n’ roll since day one.”

  Jace liked the sound of that. To have the same team you cared about being at your side when you helped the rest of the world, well, a lot to be said for that. “You like being a hero,” he said to Logan.

  At that Logan snorted. “Don’t let Levi hear you say that.”

  “Too late. I mentioned something about it on the first day. Hadn’t realized it was such a taboo word.”

  “The women love it,” Logan said. “Levi is not so hot on it. He’s afraid he’s turned the compound into a matchmaking service.”

  “Well, there is a hell of a lot of partnering at the compound.”

  “Yes, but Michael found his outside the compound.” Logan grinned as he looked at Jace. “And she’s not living there either. Mercy’s got a place in town, so he’s been back and forth.”

  “The last discussion I heard, he bought the land next door to the compound, is build
ing a house for him and Mercy, plus has rented a house in the town closest to the compound. So they could stay at either place, both commuting a few minutes either way.”

  “Makes sense. Michael would find it very hard to be caged in with everyone else living in the same house on the compound,” Jace admitted.

  “He’s also trying to sell off his old place. Once he gets that deal done, he’ll be in a position to turn around and buy something much bigger,” Logan added. “I know that Levi would like to keep him close.”

  “Michael was part of my unit. As was Tyson.”

  “And Rory too, right?”

  Jace glanced at Logan. “What do you know about Rory?”

  “Levi’s looking for men to tap. Michael suggested he ask Rory.”

  “Rory would be good. And, yeah, he’s one of my old unit too. They’re all good men.”

  Logan nodded. “That’s how we all feel. At this point, Levi has more ex-military than any other company going.”

  “That’s because he’s easy to deal with. It’s work that we love to do, that we’re trained to do, and that we’re good at.” He shrugged. “A marriage made in heaven. But, if any of those women start decorating that damn place with wedding bells, I’m getting the hell out of there.”

  “You know? That’s one thing that hasn’t happened yet. There’s been lots of talk of partnering. But nobody’s mentioned marriage. I’m waiting for the first woman to get pregnant.”

  “Can you imagine the compound full of kids?” Jace said. “It boggles the mind.”

  “Alfred would be in heaven.”

  “Maybe. But our lifestyle is hardly conducive to family living.”

  “No. But the compound is as close to that as I think we’ll ever get. Everyone safe, happy, and well loved. Lots of properties around the compound. Those who want their own space can have it,” Logan said. “Not everybody needs to be there. I spend a lot of time on my dad’s estate because he’s aging.”

  Jace pulled up outside the hotel. “Anna’s business is getting bigger and bigger all the time,” he commented. “It’s pretty amazing the kind of animal rescue work she does.”

  “I know. My father and Levi both contribute to the place on a regular basis.”

  “That’s good to know. It’s a worthy cause,” Jace said. “I know there was talk about building some more pens or something for her this weekend.”

  “If we’re not still working this case, yes. But chances are, you and I will still be in Austin, working.”

  “I’m all for that. But, if I’m home, I like to be busy too.”

  “You won’t have to say that twice. Something always needs to be done. I think Alfred’s even talking about a garden now. So, if you open your mouth at the wrong time, you can be doing all kinds of shit work.”

  Jace grinned. “You know? That doesn’t sound half bad. As a matter of fact, it sounds damn good.”

  Chapter 5

  Jace and Logan were at the insurance office door, waiting for Emily as she joined them outside. She checked her watch. “You guys are early.”

  “Not really. We’ve been up for hours.”

  “You could have called me on my cell,” she said.

  Logan smiled. “Well, we tried. You didn’t answer.”

  She shot him a surprised look, pulled out her cell phone, and winced. “Wow. With everything going on, I forgot to charge it.” She shoved it back into her pocket. “I have a spare charger in my office.”

  “In that case, I presume this is a habit?”

  She shook her head. “No, but then I’m in the field a lot, so it’s handy to have a charger at the office and at home.”

  “Maybe you should get one for the vehicle,” Jace said slowly.

  She shrugged, unlocked the front door, surprised Wilson wasn’t in already. She motioned the two men inside in front of her. “Now that you’re here, let’s go find out what the problems are.”

  They walked upstairs to her office. “Are you always the first one in?” Jace asked.

  She shook her head. “No. I’m not.” She checked her watch again. “I’m only a few minutes early. I expect everybody else will be in soon. Coffee?”

  “Yes, please,” Logan said.

  She glanced over at Jace. He nodded. She liked that about him. He was a man of few words, a relief after the chatty lot she had in her line of business. She put on a pot. When it was done dripping, she poured three cups and motioned to the two men. “Fix it the way you like. Let’s work in the boardroom.” She watched as both men picked up the cups of black liquid and turned to face her. She shook her head. “Of course you like it strong and black.” She led the way to the boardroom. When they were all inside, she closed the door. “Okay, so what is it you need?” She grabbed the closest chair and sat down.

  “Check the policies paid out to anyone in the family or anyone in the TxSAR group.”

  “Great, how many more people?” she asked with a sigh. “I still haven’t completed the family tree as it is.”

  “Ice sent a short list this morning.” Logan brought up his cell and opened the list.

  She read through the names. “None of them sound familiar. Who are they?”

  “TxSAR personnel who have died in the last twenty years.”

  “Why twenty years?”

  “It’s how long that office has been in operation.”

  She turned to stare at him. “You’re thinking it’s more to do with TxSAR than the extended family?”

  “We won’t leave any rock unturned.”

  “Email it to me, will you, please?” She brought out a notepad and wrote things down. “I can get the information for you, but it’ll take some time.”

  “Do you have anybody to help you?” Jace asked.

  “I can assign somebody. But, so far, I’ve kept my mouth closed because I’m associated with the four of them. Don’t get me wrong,” she added hurriedly, holding out her hands. “I’m certainly not hiding it, and my boss knows, but I don’t believe he’s told the head office at this time.”

  “Can he help you?”

  She smiled. “He’s a manager for a reason. He doesn’t do very much of the hands-on work.”

  Jace nodded. “Can you slough off any of your other work so this becomes a priority?”

  “It is my priority,” she said calmly. “But it’s not as simple as typing the name into the database. These names are not necessarily the names on the policies. People marry, get divorced. They change their names. … Nobody ever thinks to update an insurance policy.”

  Jace sat back with a surprised look on his face. “That makes sense.”

  “Like a painting, we need to have a paper trail to follow,” she said. “It has to be legal. They have to prove they are who they say they are before we write a check.”

  “Will that paper trail be in the archives?” Logan asked.

  She glanced at him. “It’s likely to be in the notes. But, if some of these records go back twenty years, … we didn’t have digital records back then. We’ll find scanned documents and old paper documents with notes written as well as they could’ve been. But there could be gaps in the information. I will do what I can. Also I promised Ice that I would look for other family members. It would be helpful if we knew from the family themselves who might have an insurance policy because I represent only one of many insurance companies. It would make sense to think that some would have insurance policies with other companies.”

  “And yet, if they didn’t, then that would be another line to tug because then the insurance company would also be a common denominator.”

  “That’s possible. I don’t think it’s very likely. Insurance companies are very competitive. So there are many reasons for somebody to come to our company versus another one.”

  “Unless someone in the family either worked in the company or knew somebody who did—other than you.” Jace leaned forward, his fingers tapping the table. “We need a list of past employees, particularly fired or disgruntled ones who could
have accessed the policies.”

  She winced. “And that could be a whole lot harder to find.”

  Jace gave her a flat stare. “Why is that?”

  “Because that information is confidential and might need a warrant,” she reminded him gently. “I’ll help you as much as I can within the parameters I’m allowed. And I know Wilson will be on board to go right to the edge, but I don’t know if the employee list is included in that or not.” When Jace opened his mouth to protest, she held up her hand. “I will check it out and do what I can. When I know something, I’ll pass it on to you. But, if you got a warrant, that would be much better.”

  Jace narrowed his gaze and settled back in his chair. “And we might have to, but that will be a last resort. But the faster we get information, the faster this will go.”

  “I need more hands,” she muttered.

  “While we can get the information on our own, I presume you don’t want us hacking into your system,” Logan said with a big grin.

  Her gaze flew to him in horror. “Please don’t do that. Please don’t even suggest something like that, even as a joke.”

  “Why?” Jace asked sharply. “Has the company been hacked?”

  She picked up her coffee cup and took a sip. “Before I started working here, some of our files were hacked. To this day, we’re not exactly sure what was accessed. Obviously our security is much stronger now. But, at the time, nobody understood how far into our database a hacker could go.”

  Logan whistled low and hard. “Wow. That completely opens up the suspect list.”

  “Why?”

  “Because now there are a lot of people who would’ve known who had policies and would also have the personal information as to who was related and who were the beneficiaries. This may have nothing to do with the individual family members,” Jace said. “It could very well be the hackers found several policy holders within the one family and just rolled a dice to choose the next victim.”