Chapter 34

“He did what?” Phone to his ear, Quentin stalked to his office door and slammed it shut.

“He fired me,” Dan Stabe said. “Jared said he didn’t think I would have his best interests at heart.”

Quentin blistered the air with a string of curse words. His plans were crumbling before his eyes. All because of Melender Harman. Nothing had gone right since she’d come out of the mountains and infiltrated his life. He should have listened to Ruby when she’d begged him not to allow Melender to stay in their home, but no, he had to play the magnanimous uncle. It’s as if Ruby had known the destruction that would follow in Melender’s wake.

He’d missed whatever else Stabe had said but didn’t bother asking the attorney to repeat it. Without caring of the consequences, he barked, “You’re fired.”

“What?” Stabe’s indignation mimicked his own. “You can’t do that.”

“I most certainly can.” A grim smile curled the corners of Quentin’s lips. “If you recall, your current position is based on my recommendation.”

“That may be true, but I remind you that I know things about the past.”

“Don’t threaten me. If you want to go running to the cops or the Commonwealth’s attorney, go right ahead. Whatever you say about me, you’re the one who faces disbarment for your conduct during the trial.”

“You’re so sure this won’t come back to bite you, but I’m not as incompetent as you think.”

The best way to deal with people like Stabe—make sure they know you’re not worried about being blackmailed. “So I paid you to make sure you only put up a facsimile of a defense. That’s a minor offense compared with taking a bribe to throw a trial. Oh, and don’t forget, breaking attorney-client privilege to keep me informed of everything Melender said to you.”

“You could let that particular cat out of the bag, but I don’t think you will.”

The assurance in Stabe’s voice alerted him to be wary, but Quentin had other things to think about, like how he was going to keep his son from making a huge mistake.

Stabe resumed. “There’s also the matter of conversations we’ve had since then. I think the FBI will be very interested to listen to what you had to say about a certain senator and a bill that grants you mining rights in Shenandoah National Park.”

“What exactly are you saying?”

“That I hold all the cards.”

“Do you?” His longtime subordinates would have instantly recognized the menace behind those softly uttered words.

Stabe ploughed forward. “I recorded our conversations, and will turn over the recordings to the FBI, unless…”

Quentin opened a desk drawer and extracted one of his burner phones. Powering it up, he asked the question Stabe was waiting for. “Unless what?”

“I don’t see why things can’t continue as before.”

Stabe’s actions read like a script, so predictable. Quentin would have laughed at the sheer pedestrian aura of it all, but he didn’t have time for frivolity. “You’re right,” Quentin finally responded.

A short pause, then the other man ventured, “I am?”

“I was too hasty in my decision to fire you. Consider yourself rehired.” Quentin thumbed in a number on the burner phone without hitting the connect button.

“Great.” Stabe cleared his throat. “What about Jared?”

“I’ll take care of my son. And Stabe?”

“Yes?”

“I expect those recordings to be destroyed immediately.” Quentin knew Stabe wouldn’t do any such thing, but his tone didn’t convey that knowledge.

“Absolutely. I’ll take care of them right away.”

Quentin ended the call without replying, then touched the connect button on the burner phone.

“Yes?” The other man’s voice had a husky timber to it.

“Jared fired Stabe.” In his leather executive chair, Quentin leaned back and let his head rest against the upholstered leather.

“And?” By the inflection in the other man’s voice, he had picked up on the tension in Quentin.

“The little weasel tried to blackmail me, so I fired him too.”

A short bark of laughter on the other end of the phone. “Lawyers can be so smug.”

“Stabe said he made recordings of all of our conversations.”

“I see. What did you do?”

“I rehired him and told him to destroy the tapes. Immediately.” Quentin’s personal cell phone sounded with Ruby’s ringtone but he swiped to ignore the call. “I don’t expect Stabe will be a problem much longer, if you get my meaning.”

The other man disconnected without replying. The understanding between the two needed no explanation. He would take care of Stabe and those blasted tapes, if they even existed, and Quentin could focus on saving his family. A picture of Ruby right after she’d given birth to Jesse filled his mind. The radiance of her countenance had been brighter than any star. He had tried so hard to shield her, but he couldn’t hold back the landslide any longer. Maybe one day, she would find it in her heart to forgive him. Oh, my darling wife. I’m so sorry.

* * *

Jared tiltedhis head back to finish the last swallow from his soda can. The remains of his lunch lay crumpled on the metal table. His new defense attorney, a public defender named John Billings, sat beside him jotting notes on a yellow legal pad. After spilling his story to Billings, the lawyer had arranged for Jared to speak with the two detectives and the Commonwealth’s attorney.

“I gotta say, this sounds rather fantastic.” Billings removed his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose.

“It’s the truth.” Jared shrugged. “Isn’t there some saying about the truth being stranger than fiction?”

Billings smiled. “They do indeed say that.”

For the first time in as long as he could remember, Jared didn’t have a tightness in his chest. Guess sharing what had happened the night Jesse disappeared had been good for his body as well as his mind. The door opened, and the two detectives entered, followed by a slim woman with cropped hair.

Billings stood, his hand outstretched toward the detectives. “I’m John Billings, representing Jared Thompson.”

The male detective shook Billings’s hand. “Detective Livingston. This is my partner, Detective Collier, and Commonwealth’s Attorney Nina Valbuena.”

Jared didn’t rise but nodded his greeting in their direction, second thoughts about this course of action tying his stomach up in knots. No, he needed to look after himself, and this was the only way to mitigate the kidnapping charges.

“Let’s get started, shall we?” Billings retook his seat next to Jared as the others sat around the table. “Thank you for agreeing to come down this morning, Ms. Valbuena.”

“You’re welcome.” The lawyer set her briefcase on the floor. “However, the Jesse Thompson murder is a closed case, as far as the Commonwealth of Virginia is concerned.”

“And yet you’re here.” Billings tapped his pen on the legal pad. “I heard there’s a recording that will corroborate my client’s story.”

“What?” Jared couldn’t stop the question. “What recording?”

Billings laid a hand on his arm, signaling Jared to not say another word.

Ms. Valbuena shot Detective Livingston a look. The detective shrugged. “What does Mr. Thompson have to say?”

“First, I’d like assurance that my client will not be charged with anything related to what he’s about to tell you,” Billings countered.

The Commonwealth’s representative glanced again at Livingston, who nodded once. “I can guarantee no charges will be filed against Mr. Thompson apart from the attempted kidnapping.” She leaned across the table, her finger pointing directly at his chest. “But that guarantee doesn’t extend to murder.”

Some of the anxiety eased out of Jared at her assurance. Since he wouldn’t be confessing to killing Jesse, he should be safe.

“That will do,” Billings said. “Jared, the floor is yours.”

Jared cleared his throat. “The night Jesse went missing, Ruby asked me to keep an eye on Jillian and Jesse. She and my dad were going to some charity function at the country club, and the nanny would be helping out there after getting Jesse ready for bed.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. He’d been so annoyed at being saddled with his half-siblings. All he’d wanted was to score some pills from Snake and get high in his room while listening to his latest heavy metal album.

“Jesse wouldn’t settle down. He kept fussing in his crib. Jillian said he wasn’t feeling well, so I gave him some medicine. Infant Benadryl and liquid Tylenol.” Jared walked them through the rest of the night. Jesse’s crying, Jillian playing peek-a-boo with Blue Bunny. Finding Jesse not breathing with Blue Bunny on his face. Calling his father in a panic.

“What happened after you called your father?” Ms. Valbuena asked.

Jared hung his head. “I checked to make sure Jillian was in her bed, then I left to meet Snake, my dealer.”

“You left Jesse lying there in the crib?” Livingston’s question cracked like a whip across Jared’s back.

Jared flinched at the harshness in the detective’s voice. “I couldn’t do anything for him.” Even as he said the words, he knew how pitiful they sounded. But he’d been only nineteen and jonesing for a fix.

“Why didn’t you call 911?” Ms. Valbuena held her pen over her legal pad.

“My dad told me he’d take care of everything.” And if the cops came, he could kiss his chance at meeting Snake goodbye. He held his head, and for the first time, the enormity of his actions crashed down on him like a house collapsing in on itself during a fire. The crushing weight of remorse squeezed his chest, making it difficult to answer the questions Ms. Valbuena and the detectives asked.

All Jared could think about was the look of betrayal in Melender’s eyes as he lied on the witness stand about his whereabouts that night. At the time, keeping the generous monthly allowance his father settled on him for committing perjury had been his top priority. He’d negotiated the settlement with his father after realizing he could never spend the ransom money. Jared’s testimony had been crucial to convincing the jury that Melender had been left in charge of the children. How Melender must hate him for his role in sending her to prison for a crime she didn’t commit.

“Mr. Thompson?” Ms. Valbuena’s voice held a note of impatience.

Jerking his thoughts away from his cousin, Jared refocused on the attorney. “Sorry.”

She didn’t acknowledge his apology. “What happened to Jesse’s body?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know.” Ms. Valbuena tapped the legal pad with her pen, her expression unreadable. “Who would know?”

Jared exchanged a look with Billings, who nodded. Drawing in a deep breath, Jared let it out slowly. He had to take care of himself now. What happened, happened. He couldn’t go back and change the actions of his nineteen-year-old self, but he could help his thirty-nine-year-old self. Straightening in his chair, he looked the prosecutor directly in the eye. “My father took care of it.”