Deadly Valentine (4 page)

"Is he dead?" she asked.

"Yes."

The smell of lingering smoke reminded her of the fire. "What about the fire?"

"It was nearly out when I got here."

"Where is everyone?"

"I don't know."

She thought he was releasing her, but he simply adjusted and picked her up. "What are you doing?"

He gave her a 'what does it look like I'm doing?' stare.

"I'm okay. I can walk-"

"You're ill and just fainted. Indulge me and let me get you back to the other room." He was nearly a foot taller than her, so his long strides had him back in the next room quickly. He put her back on the daybed and sat on the edge looking down on her. She couldn't tell what was going through his mind, but whatever it was, it was stormy. He gave a shake of his head then reached to his side pulling his cell phone out of his pocket.

"I'll call 9-1-1."

"I'll call," she said as she reached for his phone. "Someone needs to find and warn the others."

"I'm not leaving you."

 "You need to keep them away so the evidence doesn't get contaminated."

"No. I'll call. You rest. I don't think I'll survive if you faint again." He tugged on the phone. She tugged back.

"Jack, I can make a phone call. You warn the others. They shouldn't see him like that."

 "It's possible, even likely based on all the animosity in this family that whoever killed Asa is still in the house. I'm not comfortable leaving you here by yourself."

"If the murderer wanted to kill me he had plenty of opportunity while I was resting here or even while I was passed out on Asa's floor."

She could see he was grappling with her argument.  "I'll be fine and it shouldn't take you long."

He gave a reluctant nod. "Call me if you need anything."

"Okay."

"I mean it Tess. I know you aren't thrilled to see me again, but I don't care how mad you are, you call me."

"I will."

Yet he still lingered. Frustration mixed with something else darkened his eyes. In a single move he leaned in and kissed her quickly, but firmly. "Thank god you're okay." Then as quick as the kiss, he was out the door.

Tess lay for a moment trying to figure out what had just happened. Then she remembered she needed to call the police. Picking up the phone that had fallen from her grip when Jack's lips were on hers, she dialed 9-1-1.

~~~~

"Tess! Are you alright?" Daniel dropped to his knees in front of her. She was still on the day-bed, but at least managed to sit upright. Jack had already returned to the room and after assuring her that Tom was taking care of the family, he continued to fuss over her until the police arrived. She could hear them in Asa's office starting the process of surveying the scene and collecting evidence. Another officer was taking statements from the others, but had yet to get to her and Jack. Initially they'd wanted her and Jack to move to the parlor, but Jack convinced them that she was sick, which wasn't hard to do when she finally made use of the waste paper basket. Daniel rushed in shortly after the officer, looking a bit green himself, left her to her heaving.

"I'm not hurt," she said. She took his hands. “I'm so sorry Daniel. About Asa.”

She could see the struggle in him; the professional versus the personal.

“It's hard to believe ... he was larger than life...” he said. “I was told you found him. What happened?”

“I was trying to get back to the foyer and instead ended up his office. I saw him and the blood-”

“Were you attacked?” His hands gripped hers as his eyes inventoried her body for signs of injury.

“No.”

“Thank goodness,” he said.

“Your mom. Has anyone told her yet?”

“Not yet. Dad wants to tell her in person when he gets home. Otherwise she'll want to come here and with the weather...”

“If there is anything I can do, let me know.”

He nodded. “He was a difficult man, but I know his loss will be hard on both of them.”

"Here's some water," Jack said reaching over Daniel with the glass.

“Thank you.” Tess took a tentative sip.

“Are you sure you're okay? You don't look good," Daniel said.

"It's nothing 24-hours and a goodnight sleep won't cure."

Daniel's brows drew close in confusion.

"She's sick," Jack clarified in a tone that suggested Daniel was one card short of a full deck.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Daniel asked.

"You weren't here."

"You could have called."

Tess let out an exasperated breath. "You were working."

"What about dad?"

"Asa would have never let him leave. Besides the weather was bad."

"I offered to take her home," Jack said. After giving Tess her water, he'd taken a seat in a wing-back chair across from the daybed. His body language suggested he was relaxed, but his eyes studied Daniel.

"I'm okay. I just want to get home. Who's going to take my statement?"

"Under the circumstances, couldn't you question her tomorrow?" Jack asked.

Daniel looked over his shoulder at Jack. After a moment, he stood and turned. "And you are?"

"Jack Valentine." Jack remained seated. He didn't extend his hand. Neither did Daniel.

"What was your business here tonight?"

"Daniel. You're not on this case are you?" Tess asked.

He turned to Tess. "I'm a detective. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because Asa is - was your uncle."

"I'm here now and I'll do my job. Talbert will decide who will lead the case tomorrow. Regardless Tess, I can do the job."

"I'm not questioning whether you can do the job, just how it will look."

He gave a small laugh. "Still a lawyer even when you're sick and traumatized." Like most lawyer comments, its tone wasn't complimentary.

"You know as well as I do that this is going to be big and something like a conflict of interest can cause problems at trial."

"There are plenty of people here who aren't related to Asa. I think we'll be alright." He turned back to Jack. "So, what was your business here?"

"Are you taking my statement or interrogating me?" Jack asked.

Tess watched the two men. Posturing. Circling. Waiting.

"It was just a question."

"Asa invited me."

"For what reason?"

Jack shrugged. "We didn't get that far."

"You came to a business dinner without knowing the business?"

"If I understand correctly, you were invited to the same dinner. Did he tell you?"

Daniel studied Jack as if he had some sort of x-ray lie detector vision. "Can you tell me when you last saw Asa alive?"

It was Jack's turn to study and assess. "I saw him in his office."

"When was that?"

"After dinner."

"What was his demeanor."

"Smug, as usual."

"What did you talk about?"

"I wanted to know what he was up to?"

"Up to?"

Tess winced. She wondered if she should offer to be Jack's lawyer. While an oppositional attitude wasn't evidence, it certainly made the police take notice. Then again, what did she know? Jack could be the killer. He had been as annoyed as anyone at Asa. Except, if Jack was the same as she remembered, it was more likely he'd  have left the party than kill Asa. Not that he couldn't be confrontational, but Jack picked his battles. If it wasn't important enough to him, he didn't bother. He was curious about Asa's actions, but Tess got the feeling he was annoyed and ready to be done with Asa. In fact, she'd bet the only reason he hadn't left before dinner was because of her.

"I wanted to know his big announcement. Surely you were curious too?"

"But wasn't he getting ready to make his grand announcement?" Daniel asked.

"Who knows? We'd been waiting all night. I thought he'd make it during drinks, then dinner. For all I knew he was going to turn this into a sleep over."

"Would you have stayed?"

"No."

"Why not? By your own admission you'd let Asa jerk your chain all night."

"Because I didn't care that much."

"Then why did you stay as long as you did?"

Jack looked to Tess."I wanted to get reacquainted with an old friend."

 Daniel followed his glance to Tess and then turned back to Jack. "You know Ms. Madison?"

"Yes. I know her well."  There was no mistaking his suggestive tone. She would have rolled her eyes if the movement wouldn't have made her nauseous.

Daniel was unable to hide his surprise as he looked to Tess for confirmation. 

“I knew Jack when I lived in Washington.”

"I see." Daniel turned his attention back to Jack. "So after your talk with Asa, what happened?"

“I looked in on Tess. She was still resting-"
            "Looked in on Tess?"

"She wasn't feeling well and since she was stranded, she came in here to rest. She was still resting after I talked with Asa, so I went to the front room to wait for the others."

"Front room?"

"That room at the front of the house. With the bar."

"The parlor?"

It was Jack's turn to roll his eyes. "Parlor. Right."

"Was anyone else in the parlor room?"

Jack shook his head. "No. I got a drink and waited."

"Did you hear anything unusual while waiting?"

"No."

"Then what happened?"

"The butler came in and let me know that Tess was awake. So I went to her. She wasn't in here. The door was open to Asa's office, so I looked in there. First I saw him. Then I saw Tess on the floor."

"On the floor? I thought you said you weren't attacked," Daniel said turning to Tess.

"I wasn't. I don't think."

Daniel gave her a concerned look.

"I don't think she was either," Jack offered.

Jack's voice effectively drew Daniel and his suspicion back to him. "What did you do then?"

"I went to her."

"What about Asa?"

"I checked Tess first. She was breathing and there was no blood, so I checked on Asa. He was dead."

"When did you call 9-1-1?"

"Tess called 9-11."

"So you waited?"

"I was more concerned with helping her. I was going to call, but she insisted that I find the others and warn them."

"You left her alone with the possibility of a murderer in the house."

Jack's eyes darkened. "Yeah, I did."

"I told him to," Tess said. Jack hadn't asked for her help, but since she knew how Jack's behavior could be construed, she felt she should interject.

Daniel didn't look convinced.

"I wanted to preserve the scene," she added. "If they found him like that, they might have destroyed evidence."

"Always the lawyer." Daniel said.

"Sir?" A uniformed officer poked his head into the room. "The coroner is ready to move the body. Detective Collier wanted me to let you know."

"Any idea of the cause of death?"

"He's got a pretty big dent in his head."

Tess winced at the officer's choice of words. But Daniel, in work mode, didn't seem to notice. "Any sign of the weapon?"

"A metal statue. It looks like an award.”

“Prints?”

“Lots. It's probably from the staff, but we'll run them all.”

"What about blood?" Tess asked.

"I'm not the ME," the officer said. "But there wasn't much blood from the hit to the head."

"What's it from?" Daniel asked.

"Broken glass. It looks like the momentum of the blow forced his head down and it landed on his drink, breaking the glass."

Tess winced and swallowed as the image of Asa having his throat cut on his own drink caused her stomach to pitch.

"What about the fire?" Jack asked.

"Fire?"

"There was a fire in his trash when I found him," Tess said.

"It's unclear if Mr. Worthington or the killer started the fire," the officer said.

She could see Daniel processing all the information, but knew he couldn't form any opinion of the strange circumstances.

"Tell Sam to hold off on taking the body until I can have a look," Daniel told the officer.

"Yes sir."

"Daniel, are you sure you want to do that," Tess asked.

"I know what I'm doing," he said.

"I know. It's just...he's your uncle. Do you really want to see him like that?"

A range of emotions crossed over Daniel's face. Tess realized that while Asa was part of Daniel's family, he hadn't been an easy man to love. Although she'd never been told the details, she knew that Daniel's relationship with him was as strained as everyone else's. For that reason, he'd be able to look on Asa not as a lost family member, but another case to be solved. She understood how insensitive it would appear if he articulated his thoughts on the situation, so she decided not to press him.

Daniel turned back to Jack. "I'll have more questions for you -"

"I'd like to take Tess home. I can return -"

"No one is leaving now." He turned to Tess, dropping to one knee in front of her and taking her hands in his. "I'm sorry sweetheart. No one can leave yet, as I'm sure you know."

She nodded.

“We need to search this room as well, so I'll need to you move to the parlor with the others. Once I'm done with Asa, I'll come take your statement and then I'll take you home."

She nodded again. Daniel rose and started towards Asa's office.

Jack made a move to lift her. "I can walk," she said as she batted his arms away.

"Shut up, Tess." Jack slipped his arms under her and lifted her up.

"Do you need to go to the hospital?" Daniel asked. Tess could see the worry mixed with annoyance in Daniel's gray eyes.

"No. I need to go home."

Jack held her tight, tighter than was necessary as he turned towards Daniel. "She should probably have someone check her head. She's got a pretty good bump from when she fainted."

"Fainted?" Daniel said moving back towards them.

"Why else do you think she was on the floor," Jack said with a tone that sounded more like he was saying "duh!"

"I don't need a hospital," Tess intervened even though her stomach suggested otherwise. She feared she might be sick again. All over Jack. It would serve him right.

"The paramedics are still here-"