JUDE: Book 2 The Justice Brothers Series (7 page)

Chapter 7

Skylar had known her father had approached Jared, insisting that he convince Skylar not to go to Duluth. Sky could almost hear his compelling arguments. He’d made them many times over the years to Sky and anyone who had tried to take her away from him. Her father would start with how bright she was, how important it was that her powerful brain not be wasted on frivolous tasks. If that didn’t work, he would mention how sheltered she’d been, how vulnerable she was. Finally, if he got desperate enough, he would allude to her oddness, hinting that she was prone to doing unexpected things. Like not listening to her father who knew what was best for his remarkable but somewhat “unstable” daughter.

Sky hadn’t known until she arrived in Duluth that her father had also approached the Judge. It was hugely embarrassing to her and so like her controlling father not to give her the courtesy of telling her what he had done. It also spoke to both Jared’s and the Judge’s strength of personality that they stood up to Professor Morton Hughes, something few people did. Jared and the Judge must have intuitively understood how hard it would be for Sky to break away from her powerful father. But they’d stood back and hadn’t pressured her. When she made the decision to leave the Northeast against her father’s strong objections, they stepped up and supported her, wholeheartedly welcoming her to Minnesota.

Skylar was horrified when the Judge casually mentioned her father to Jude. Worse, he had revealed with an amused chuckle that her father had insisted that she needed to be reminded to eat properly. While the Judge no doubt meant the offhand remark as an example of Professor Hughes’s need to control his daughter, the comment clearly reinforced Jude’s dismissive view of her. Sky admitted that it was one thing for Jared and the Judge to know about her father. That, she could handle. But now that the arrogant detective knew who her father was, Sky felt she’d been exposed, revealed as the oddity that she’d always known herself to be. To a man who had already relegated her to the lowly ranks of damnable, and worse, unappealing.

That assessment of her shared by her critically sarcastic father was one of the reasons she’d left his academic domain and fled to her anonymous harbor at the DEA. Even her choice of profession had been her way of breaking free from her father’s imposing shadow. Studying the darkest, most vicious layers of human behavior had been a violent refuge, as far from the emotionless study of mathematics as she could get. It hurt more than she cared to admit that thousands of miles away from Professor Hughes was a daunting man who shared her father’s dismissive views of her. Only Detective Justice’s views were even more hurtful than her father’s. Unlike her father, the detective seemed impressed by her criminology credentials. No, his problem with her was that she was a doughnut-eating, unappealing freak. So unappealing, that even the most profligate, least selective womanizer in town had disqualified her as a potential fuck.

“Are you all right, Squirt?”

Jude’s frowning question broke through her troubled musing. She brushed Jude’s hand off her arm. The conversation with his grandfather had been challenging, unnerving enough. She already felt vulnerable with Jude. But she could handle his dismissiveness better than she could his solicitousness. And the last thing she wanted to share with him was her father.

Reaching for the doorknob to the library where the Parker siblings were waiting, she glared up at him and responded curtly, “What makes you think I’m not?”

To her surprise, Jude put his hand over hers, not letting her turn the knob. “Because you don’t look all right.” His firm grip and narrowed gaze confirmed his concern.

Skylar looked down, refusing to hold his gaze.

When she didn’t respond, he said softly, “This is going to be a challenging discussion, Skylar. I need to know that you are up to it.”

Infuriated that he would question her professional ability, she tipped up her chin and snapped, “The one thing you can be sure about me, Detective, is that I’m more than up to this. And
that you can always count on me to be professional.”

He studied her narrowly for a moment then nodded, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “That’s good to know.” His eyes darkened, and when he spoke a silky layer of danger coated his words. “And the one thing that you can count on from
me
, Ms. Hughes, is that when I ask a question, I expect an answer.” Jude let go of her hand and once again grasped her elbow as he opened the door to the library.

Skylar struggled to get her breath, stunned by the rush of sensations that flooded her. She didn’t have to see his lips quirk to know that Jude had felt her untoward reaction to his provocative threat. Startled, Sky realized that if Jude hadn’t been holding her she might have fallen. Her legs were that shaky.

Instead, Jude held her next to him for a moment, then still holding her arm, he ushered her into the room. The four people who were seated on the opposing couches in the library glanced up when they entered. Skylar had seen Blake and his sisters Charlotte and Marion when they’d come to the crime scene. She hadn’t seen the blond-haired woman seated next to Blake, but assumed she was Alicia, the person who had been the one to discover her parents’ bodies.

Jude moved toward Blake, who rose unsteadily to his feet. “Good morning, Blake, all.”

Blake started to answer but his words were lost in a soft groan. Jude reached for Blake’s hand then pulled the shaken man to him and held him for a moment in a one-armed bear hug. “Hang in there, buddy. I’m here now.”

He helped Blake back to the sofa, then leaned down and buzzed Alicia’s cheek. “Good morning, Alicia.” At her nod, he moved to the sofa where Marion and Charlotte were sitting. He held each of their hands and then turned to Skylar. Reaching for her hand, he pulled her up next to him.

“Alicia, Marion, Charlotte, Blake, I’d like you to meet my colleague, Skylar Hughes. Ms. Hughes worked with Jared in the Washington DEA. She is what we call an Intelligence Officer.” He added with a slight smile, “The first one that we’ve had at the Duluth PD. Ms. Hughes is helping me establish the facts in this hideous crime that we’re facing.”

Motioning for Skylar to the chair across from him, Jude waited until Sky was seated, then sat in the armchair between the sofas.

Blake looked at him beseechingly. His face was pale and his eyes were red-rimmed, swimming with tears. “Goddammit, Jude. Please…please tell us…what you know. Who…who did this?” His voice broke. “Jesus God, man. You must have some idea. Were they robbers? Kids? Horrible, horrible sick people? Who could have thought about the things that they did to our mother and father, much…much less have
done
them?”

He sunk back on the sofa and leaned forward, pressing his hands against the sides of his head as if he could squeeze the hideous images out of his brain. At his broken sob, Alicia put her arm around him and stroked his back. Her comforting murmurs were soft, unintelligible.

Marion, who Skylar knew was the oldest of the sisters, turned to Jude. Unlike her brother, her voice was firm, hard. Glaring at Jude, her rigid posture was consistent with her harsh words.

“Blake is right, Jude. It’s been at least thirty-six hours or more since our parents were brutally murdered. And this is the first time anyone has come to give us any information. Who is in charge of the investigation? Who will answer our questions, tell us what the police are doing? Most importantly, who the perpetrators are and when they will be caught?”

Jude focused a narrowed gaze on the angry woman. When he spoke his voice was calm, straightforward. “I’m in charge of the investigation, Marion. Either Ms. Hughes or I will be your contact. Before we leave today we will give you our direct numbers so that you can contact us at any time.”

Charlotte broke in, her voice shrill, disbelieving. “The two of
you
are our contacts?” She shook her head in disgust. “If you’re in charge of the investigation, that probably means you’re going to be busy—or at least I hope it does. Which means that
she
will be our contact.”

Glaring at Skylar, Charlotte’s face flushed a deeper shade of scarlet. Her voice rose further. “And who the hell is
she? We don’t even know her.” She added dismissively, “Just that she’s one of Jared’s projects.” She huffed. “But then, Jared always was bringing home strays. God, she looks like she’s twelve years old and you’re telling us she’s going to be our contact?”

Before Jude could answer, Alicia added her voice, as sharp as her sister’s. “Charlotte is right. What about Jake? Jared? Why aren’t they involved? Jake’s the police commander. I would think that he would be in charge, not you. You’ve been gone for years and just got back from L.A. How can you know what’s going on here?” She glanced at Blake, who was regarding his sisters with a frown.

Before he could speak, Alicia continued, “And where
is
Jared? Why isn’t he at least working the case with you? Jared and Blake were best friends. Why isn’t he—”

Jude held up his hand, stopping Alicia’s tirade mid-sentence. He looked from one to the other of the four siblings, holding each of their gazes for a moment. When he spoke, as before, his voice was calm, firm. “As I indicated, Ms. Hughes and I will be your contacts. If you have questions you may call either one of us.”

When Charlotte started to protest, Jude narrowed his gaze and frowned slightly.

The angry woman hesitated, then stopped and glared at him, anger radiating from her body.

Jude let the silence stand for a long moment then said quietly, “In answer to your questions, Blake, we have little concrete information at this time.” He raised his hand again when Charlotte started to speak. She hesitated, then sunk back against the sofa cushion, her eyes flashing with anger.

“What we do know is that your parents died approximately an hour before you came home, Alicia. While these are estimates at best, your father died first—approximately thirty minutes before your mother. Doctor Evans believes that both of your parents died of asphyxiation caused by the cords around their necks. Because they were tortured with a number of different weapons, the loss of blood and trauma contributed to their deaths.”

Blake’s sob cut through Jude’s graphic recitation. Making a visible effort to control his emotions, Blake groaned, then pleaded, “Please, Jude, please, man, tell me that they…they died quickly, that they weren’t conscious when…when…those horrible things were done to them.”

Jude pressed his lips together, then shook his head. “I wish I
could
tell you that, but I can’t, Blake. Both your parents suffered for at least three, more likely four, hours before they mercifully died.”

Blake’s anguished wail filled the room.

Skylar rose and walked to the door. She murmured to Jude as she passed, “I’ll be right back. I’m going to have Gregory bring in some water.”

When she returned, she heard Jude beginning to describe their preliminary theories about the perpetrators. He stopped when she entered, Gregory and Marguerite following behind her. Gregory put a tray holding a water pitcher and glasses on the coffee table and then placed Marguerite’s tray with a teapot and four cups next to the water.

“Thank you, Marguerite, Gregory.” Jude glanced around the circle. “Would you like a glass of water, Blake? Anyone? Or perhaps you’d prefer tea?”

When Blake nodded, Jude poured him a glass of water, then turned to the sisters, all of who stonily refused the refreshments. He waited until the two long-time servants left the room, then nodded to Sky. “I was just about to tell the Parkers our preliminary theories about the perpetrators, Skylar.”

Turning back to the four siblings, he said, “Understand, these are preliminary theories at best. The laboratory technicians are combing through mountains of evidence. It will be several more days before we have final results. What we do know or surmise at this point is the following: We know that at least two, more likely three or more, perpetrators were present. There was evidence of cocaine and possibly heroin in the room, indicating they were likely high on drugs, which helps somewhat to explain the savagery of the attacks. While we haven’t ruled out a burglary gone bad, because the attacks were so vicious, and the fact that nothing of value is missing, we think it is unlikely that this was an anonymous crime.”

Marion interrupted him. “What does that mean, Jude? That it wasn’t an anonymous
crime? Are you saying that the people who did this knew our mother and father?”

When Jude nodded, Charlotte challenged him, “But…but that means…you’re saying that whoever did all those horrible things did them on purpose? I…I don’t understand.”

Jude was sympathetic. “None of us can understand how human beings could do what they did to your parents. As I said, we believe that they were high on cocaine, which may help to explain the viciousness of the attacks. That said, our working theory is that the perpetrators knew your parents. There was no sign of a forced entry. Moreover, the doors were unlocked and the alarm didn’t go off, indicating that your parents let them in, more confirmation that your parents knew their attackers.”

Blake was clearly shaken. “Damn, Jude, that…that doesn’t make sense. Who…who could possibly have hated Mom and Dad that much?”

Jude looked from one to the other of the now clearly shaken siblings and said quietly, “That’s what we are trying to find out, Blake.”

Chapter 8

Jude let the hard silence stand for several moments as each of the sisters decided that, like their brother, they would have a glass of water. When everyone had settled back on the sofas, he continued. “At this point this is the most that we can tell you. As more facts become clear, either Ms. Hughes or I will convey them to you. But now, I need some information from you. For the record, I need to confirm where each of you were on Monday night and when you last saw your parents.”

He turned to Alicia. “You and I talked briefly Monday night, Alicia, after you found your parents’ bodies. Understandably, you were in shock. But we need some basic facts from you and each of your siblings. Let’s start with the questions I’ll be asking your sisters and brother. If you would please tell us where you were, with whom, and what time you got home on Monday evening.”