13. Jayne

Matt nodded. "Yes, they are. And I don't know what to do about it. Obviously, I haven't actually done anything worthy of blackmail, but if I don't pay them, I'll have to explain myself to the world, and you know how the media is. They won't care that it's an innocent photo of me and my niece. They'll paint me as a child molester, and I'll have to prove myself innocent. That's how it works these days. Guilty until proven innocent. Not the other way around. Should I pay them? Maybe I should just pay them."

Before Sin or I could say anything, Matt groaned.

"I can't believe this." He raked his hand through his hair. "This will ruin Jess's life. There'll be questions and assumptions, and she'll get all kinds of horrific attention. No child should have to go through that. She'll never be the same. Not with this hanging over her. Not to mention what my sister will have to deal with."

"What about you?" Sin said. "You'll face the same thing."

"Yeah." Matt took a deep breath and stared off like he was thinking. "It'll probably ruin my business. I don't know. It's not my main concern right now. Whatever happens, I'll manage. Protecting Jess matters more. She's just a kid."

I sipped my tea, shooting my hand out to block Sin as he reached for the paper. "Might be fingerprints on that."

He pulled his hand back. "Good call. Matt, has anyone else touched this?"

"No, just me. I just found it in my mailbox. You guys didn't see anyone suspicious by the mailbox while I was gone, did you?"

Sin and I shook our heads. I drank more tea. It was soothing, and right now, soothing was good. "Don't you have cameras?"

"Yes, but they only cover the front door, back door, part of the driveway, and the garage." Matt stared at the note. "I'll have to add another one. Not that it will help now."

I went to one of the barstools at the island and sat. "How did someone get ahold of this picture? Was it online?"

"No," Matt answered. "My sister never put pictures of her kids on social media when they were small. She thought that was inviting trouble." He frowned. "Now this."

Sin's eyes narrowed. "Who took the photo?"

"Dan, Julie's husband. He took a bunch of photos on that visit. He always does. It's kind of his thing. Before I flew home, he printed a bunch of them out for me. This was in the batch. I never thought anything of it until now."

"Where's the original?" I asked. "Because that's clearly not it."

Matt lifted his head. "It should be in my desk drawer. In my office upstairs. Hang on." He dashed up the steps, his footsteps thudding through the house.

Sin looked at me. "This is not good."

"No, it isn't. We can help, can't we?"

"I certainly hope so."

I put my hands around the cup, savoring the warmth. "If he pays them, what's to keep them from asking for more?"

Sin nodded. "I agree. Maybe we could set up a sting."

"You mean like send Matt to put the money into the locker, then watch to see who picks it up?"

"Something like that. I was thinking we could put a tracker in the bag. Watching the locker wouldn't even be necessary. Matt's business is personal security. I bet he's got all kinds of gadgets at his disposal."

Matt reappeared, his face flushed. "I don't get it. The photo was still in the drawer." He held it up as proof.

I tipped my head. "Set that down next to the one you were sent. I want to see them side by side."

"Okay." He brought the photo over and did as I asked.

"Look." Side by side, it was easy to see that the picture Matt had been sent was a photo of the original. I pointed at the dark line on the left margin. "I'm guessing that's the bottom of your desk drawer."

Matt peered closer. "It might be. So someone was in my house and took a photo of this picture?"

Sin went to the coffee maker to refill his cup. "Looks like it. Who's been in your house recently? Say in the past two weeks."

Matt straightened. "Charlie, of course. You guys, the cleaning service. Let me see … the heating and air guy was here. Oh, and my decorator. She's trying to talk me into redoing my office."

My brows shot up. "So she was in your office?"

"Many times," Matt said. "But I can't see Veronica doing something like this."

Sin leaned on the counter. "Was she in your office alone?"

"Yes, but she was measuring." Matt huffed out a breath. "I really can't see her as a blackmailer. She's very successful."

My tea was nearly gone. "Maybe that's why she's very successful."

"It can't be her," Matt insisted. "I can't imagine it's any of them."

For a moment, we all went silent. Thinking the same as I was, probably, about how else this could have happened. Then Sin put it into words. "Then who else could have gotten that photo?"

"I have no idea." Matt went to the nearest couch and collapsed onto it.

Slim, who'd been sleeping in a beam of sunlight coming through the French doors that opened onto the rear patio, went to him, hopped up, and curled against Matt's leg.

"Hey, buddy," he said softly. His voice was filled with despair.

I looked at Sin, my heart aching for Matt and his awful predicament. Quietly, almost mouthing the words, I said, "We have to help."

Sin nodded.

I brought my cup with me, despite it being nearly empty, and sat on the other couch. "I know you're not in a good place right now, but you know Sin and I aren't exactly … human."

Matt lifted his chin enough to nod. "I know."

"What I'm trying to say is we're willing to help. Any way we can."

He finally looked at me. "How? I mean, I appreciate the offer, but I barely have two days to figure this out before everything implodes."

Sin joined me on the couch. "How long would it take you to get that money together? If that was necessary."

"A day. The money isn't a big deal." Matt frowned. "That's not true. The money isn't pocket change, but to spare Jess and Julie this mess, I would gladly pay it."

A new thought came to me. "Is there anyone with a grudge against you? Who would also know that you could easily get your hands on that kind of cash?"

Matt thought a moment. "It's not a secret that the business is doing well. And I'm sure there are a lot of people who might be jealous of that. Jealous enough to do something like this? I don't really know. Maybe? But no names come to mind."

"Okay." So much for that.

"Do you think…" Matt let his words trail off without finishing his sentence.

"What?" Sin said. "Anything might be useful. What were you going to say?"

Matt petted Slim. "It's just odd, isn't it? That this happened so soon after losing Charlie. You don't think the two are connected in any way, do you? I don't mean that she was involved. Just … I don't know what I mean. I'm not thinking clearly."

I looked at Sin. He shrugged. "Anything's possible," he said.

"She had access to your house." I set my cup on the coffee table. "Unlimited access. And she was alone in the house, except for the other night when we were here. But she was so nice and sweet." I didn't mention I thought she'd taken longer than necessary upstairs, because I really didn't think she was involved, and I didn't want to give Matt doubt about that.

A tear trickled down Matt's face. He wiped at it. "Charlie was great. She wouldn't have done anything like this." He sniffed. "You know, I was thinking about asking her out. Now that Isla and me are over."

My heart broke for him a little more.

He leaned his head back to stare at the ceiling. "I need to find out when the funeral is."

"We're already working on that," Sin said. "One less thing for you to deal with."

"Thanks." He gave a little nod.

"What we really need to do is make a plan and put it into action." I inched forward, planting my feet firmly on the floor. "Matt, are you dead set against going to the police?"

He picked his head up. "I would rather not. This is not the kind of rumor I want to start."

Sin nodded. "I can understand that. Do you really believe the police would share that kind of information?"

Matt shot Sin a pointed look. "This is New Orleans. Corruption is rampant. All it would take is for one person to get that information, think they found a bargaining chip or a payday, and next thing you know, it's in the Picayune ."

"Then let's get that letter and photo to Birdie and?—"

"No," Matt said. "That photo does not leave this house."

I shifted my gaze to Sin.

He took over. "Matt, that photo might have a fingerprint on it. We have a friend in the Nocturne Falls Sheriff's Department who can help. She's extremely reliable, and I will personally vouch for her integrity and character. If we send it to her, it won't go any further."

I nodded. "Birdie is about to be the godmother of Jack Jr. I would trust her with my life. She can fingerprint that note and photo, and if there are prints, she can run them through the database."

Matt didn't look fully convinced. "I don't like this."

"I hate it on your behalf," I said. "But figuring out who's behind this could change everything." I stood. I really needed to pee. But I also wanted to talk to Birdie. "Two things. Do you mind if I use your bathroom, and do you mind if I call Birdie and get her thoughts on this? I won't use your name."

He nodded with a reluctance I understood. "You know where the bathroom is. You're welcome to it anytime. And, yes, you can call your friend." Then he added, "Thanks. Sorry I'm being so difficult."

"You're not being difficult. You've been blindsided by something unthinkable. You're doing great." I patted his shoulder on my way to the bathroom.

I did what I needed to do before calling Birdie.

She answered right away. "Hi, Princess. How are you?"

"I'm all right, Birdie. How are you?"

"I'd be better if I could figure out what to make Jack for dinner. I was going to roast a chicken, but that's so boring."

I smiled. "Roast chicken is a classic. Make mashed potatoes and gravy and Jack will think he's a king."

She laughed. "I did get two slices of chocolate Kahlua cake from Delaney's. If he doesn't like dinner, he'll at least like dessert."

My mouth watered just thinking about it. "He'll love it."

"Now, I know you didn't call to talk about what I'm fixing for supper, so what's up?"

"Well…" I gave her the basic rundown of what was going on.

Air hissed out of her like it was escaping a balloon. "That's awful! Who would do a thing like that?"

"I know. But that's where you come in. If I sent you the note and photograph, could you lift prints off of them?"

"You don't really lift prints off paper. You can, but it's tricky because paper is absorbent and there are fibers to consider, and it can give you a print that's not sharp. Also, the older the print is, the more it will degrade."

"Oh." I deflated. I'd really thought it was possible. I had to stop believing everything I saw on TV.

"What you need for that is a VSC. That stands for video spectral comparator. It's basically a fancy scanner that looks at the paper under different lighting conditions and sort of exposes the prints. Makes them visible. And as it happens, the department got a VSC last year. I've been itching to play with it ever since."

I inflated again. "That's awesome. So you'll do it?"

"You bet. The sooner you can get the items to me, the sooner this can happen. If there are prints, it could still take a bit to run them through the database."

"Right, okay, we'll make it happen. Do you want them sent to your house or the department?"

"Department. Then I can go right to work on them. Just put my name on the envelope."

"Wait. Better idea. I'll send them through the Santa's Bag in the RV right to the Santa's Workshop in town. I'll stick a note on the package for them to call you when it arrives."

"Brilliant idea. I hope I can help! Give my love to Sin and the babies."

I smiled. I knew she meant Spider and Sugar. "You got it. Talk soon."

We hung up, and I went back out to the guys. "Okay, Birdie can help. She said that pulling fingerprints off of paper requires something called a…" I squinted, trying to remember the exact name of the thing. "A video spectral compactor. No, that's not right. Contractor?"

"Comparator?" Matt offered.

"Yeah, that's it. Fortunately, the department has one, so she'll get right on it as soon as we can get the note and photo sent to her." I sat next to Sin again.

Matt leaned forward. "Would it be quicker if we just sent her the prints? If there are any, that is."

"Sure, but how are we going to do that?"

"I know someone who has a VSC. She's one of my oldest clients, actually. Madeline Deville. She deals in antique books, but her specialty really lies in rare documents. That's what she uses the VSC for. Verifying them, making sure no part of them was forged, that kind of thing. I'm sure she'd let us use it if I gave her a call. And I'm thinking the faster we can get an answer on this, the better."

Sin nodded. "Call her. With only forty-eight hours until the blackmailer expects his money, sooner is definitely better."