Sudden Second Chance (17 page)

On the way to the cabin he asked about her theories of the kidnappings.

She stared out the window at the passing scenery before answering. She really hadn’t given the Timberline Trio much thought, especially once she’d found out she wasn’t one of them.

“I’m not sure, maybe child trafficking, as awful as that sounds. Maybe those kids were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“It was a strange and scary time, especially for those with children.”

“You didn’t have children to worry about?”

“My wife and I were never fortunate in that regard.”

“And then you lost your wife... I’m sorry. People do talk in a small town.”

“Lorna drowned.”

“I’m so sorry.”

She’d changed the mood in the car by mentioning his wife. He seemed thoughtful as he gazed over the steering wheel.

He never remarried, so Lorna must’ve been the love of his life.

When he made the turn onto Raven Road, her fingers curled into the leather on either side of the seat and her pulse rate quickened. She’d thought getting into the cabin and finding the picture of the woman with the locket had dispelled her fears, but the anxiety still hovered at the edges of her mind.

Jordan dragged a hand across his face. “Did you call Agent Harper? I know he was interested in the cabin, too.”

“My phone’s battery died. He’s working, anyway.”

“On a Sunday?”

“He works when he gets the call.”

“I have to admit I’m a little relieved.”

She tilted her head. “Why is that?”

“He’s an officer of the law and, technically, I’m entering the cabin without the owner’s knowledge.”

She smirked. If Jordan only knew Duke had been breaking and entering just yesterday. “I don’t think he’d report you. So, do you think the Ravens is connected to the Timberline Trio kidnappings?”

“Could be. Back in the day, it was used for some illicit activities.”

“Really?” Like prostitution? Her stomach felt sick at the thought of the pretty strawberry blonde involved in anything sordid.

“I don’t know that much about it, but the Ravens had a reputation around that time. I thought that’s why you were out here yesterday.”

“I think Duke, Agent Harper, may have gotten some hint about something like that, but we barely got to the front door when the car exploded.”

“Makes you wonder if some of those old characters are still hanging around, like what happened to Binder. Coincidental that he died in a hit-and-run accident right after telling the FBI a little about Timberline’s drug culture.”

A chill swept across Beth’s body and she hunched her shoulders. She dug her phone out of her pocket and tried waking it up again.

“Still dead?”

“Yeah.” She dropped it back in her pocket.

“Reception is bad out this way, anyway.”

He swung around the yellow tape tied to a tree where Duke’s car had been parked and rolled up the pathway to the cabin.

“Stay right there, Beth. I’ll help you out.”

He appeared at the passenger door and jingled a set of keys as he gave her his arm for support. “We can get inside the right way this time.”

“This time?”

“Well, you didn’t get in at all yesterday, did you?”

“N...no.”

Her uneasiness still nibbled at the edges of her brain, but it differed from the sheer terror she felt yesterday.

He held her arm as they walked up the two steps to the front door. He used the key to unlock two locks on the door and pushed it open.

The front door opened right onto the sitting room where she and Duke had removed the floorboards and found the pictures.

“After you.”

She hesitated, and Jordan put a hand on the small of her back. “We’re not going to get caught.”

As soon as Beth entered the room, beads of sweat broke out on her forehead. Her dry mouth made it hard to swallow. The room closed around her and she hung on to her crutch as the room began to spin.

“You feel it, don’t you, Beth? She led you here, didn’t she? Your mother led you to the place where she was murdered.”

Chapter Eighteen

Duke pushed back from the desk in the conference room at the sheriff’s station and stretched. If the Bureau pulled him off this case, at least he could leave with a good report regarding the drug trade in Timberline and who was behind it. A biker gang called the Lords of Chaos controlled the drug trade on the peninsula. They also ran women and weapons. A thorough investigation of that gang might lead to additional information about the kidnappings.

He checked his phone. Nothing from Beth. He texted her, but the message didn’t show as Delivered. He tried calling and his call went straight to voice mail.

Maybe she was getting something from Serena.

Unger tapped on the open door. “Thought you’d want to know. Rebecca Geist is out of surgery. It looks like she’s going to pull through, but they’re keeping her in an induced coma until the swelling on her brain goes down.”

“Thank God. Did her fiancé make it out here?”

“He’s on a flight back right now. Do you need anything in here?”

“No. I skipped lunch, so I might take a break in a few minutes and pick up something.”

“I can recommend the sandwich place two doors down.”

“Thanks.” When Unger left, Duke rubbed his eyes and went back to the Lords of Chaos and their dirty deeds.

As he scanned a bulleted list, a name jumped out at him—LRS Corporation. That was the name Rebecca had mentioned before she’d been attacked. He ran his finger beneath the text on the screen. The Lords of Chaos had rented several properties from LRS and used some of them for their illegal activities, including cooking meth.

Duke switched to a search engine and entered
LRS Corporation, Timberline, Washington
. He skimmed through the relevant hits.

LRS stood for and was owned by Lawrence Richard Strathmore, who’d passed away about twenty years ago. He’d been around during the time of the kidnappings.

He clicked through a couple of biographies. The man and the corporation had owned a lot of property in Timberline at one time. His wife had passed before he did and they had one daughter.

Duke whistled through his teeth. Strathmore’s daughter, Lorna, had married Jordan Young.

Duke jumped up from his chair and stuck his head out the door. “Unger?”

“Yeah?”

“Need to ask you a few questions.”

Unger walked around the corner with a sandwich in his hand. “Sorry, man. I would’ve gotten you something when I went over there earlier if I’d known you were gonna be holed up in here all morning.”

“That’s okay.” Duke waved him to the chair as he perched on the edge of the conference table. “Jordan Young is a widower, right?”

“Yeah, his wife died about ten years ago—drowned.”

“His wife was Lorna? Lorna Strathmore?”

“Not sure about her maiden name, but Lorna’s right.”

“Wasn’t she loaded?”

“I heard something like that. Young got his money the old-fashioned way—he married it.”

“You ever heard of LRS Corporation?”

“I’ve seen the name on a few things. Why?”

“That was the name of Young’s father-in-law’s company—owned a lot of property in Timberline.”

“Now Young owns a lot of property in Timberline. Why are you asking?”

“Just a curious connection between him and something Beth was looking into.” Duke rubbed his chin. “You know much about him?”

“Between me and you?” Duke poked his head out the door and then closed it. “He likes the ladies, and I think he shares that with my boss.”

“Is the sheriff married? I don’t see a problem for Young since he’s widowed.”

“I guess I’m being too discreet for the big-city boy, huh? What I mean is Young is into hookers, and I think Sheriff Musgrove is, too, which is a problem for both of them, as far as I can tell.”

“Wow, you need to get rid of that guy. He’s going to bring the department a world of hurt otherwise.”

“Tell me about it.” He swung open the door. “Anyway, that’s about all I know about Young, about all I want to know about him.”

“Thanks, Unger.”

Duke tapped his thumbs on the edge of his keyboard. Jordan Young sold that cabin to Serena Hopewell. Why? Was he the one who’d stashed those pictures under the floorboards? Were those women hookers? Was the one who had Beth’s locket a hooker?

He needed to reach Beth, tell her everything. He tried her phone again, and again it went to voice mail. This time he left her a detailed message about Jordan Young.

Had she even seen Serena today? Maybe Serena had already given Beth the same info about Young.

He shut down the computer and stacked his files. Then he locked the conference room door behind him.

“Unger, I’m going to Sutter’s for some lunch.”

“All right, but the sandwiches down the street are just as good.”

“I need something else at Sutter’s.”

The Evergreen lunch hour must’ve ended because Duke walked into a mostly empty restaurant. He noted Serena working behind the bar and wove his way through the dining room tables to get there.

“You just missed your girlfriend, the TV reporter.”

“Did she talk to you about the cabin?” Duke hunched forward on the bar.

Serena’s eyes widened. “Why are you two so interested in my cabin? It’s just a cabin like any other on the outskirts of town, and it has no relation to the Timberline Trio case.”

“That you know of.”

“Do you want something to drink or are you just here to harass me?”

“Who sold you that cabin, Serena?”

“Oh, for God’s sake. I don’t remember—some corporation.”

“Why are you lying? The LRS Corporation sold you that cabin—LRS, as in Lawrence Richard Strathmore, as in Jordan Young’s father-in-law. Only, Young had control of the corporation when he sold the cabin to you. Why’d he sell it to you? Why’d he give you such a sweet deal?”

Serena backed up to the register, her arms across her chest. “What do you want from me?”

“Let’s start with the truth. What was Young using that cabin for and why’d he want to get rid of it?”

He lunged over the bar and grabbed her arm. “And what’s this tattoo on your wrist? Does that
LC
stand for the Lords of Chaos?”

She jerked away from him. “You want answers? Talk to Jordan Young.”

“Is there a problem?” A restaurant employee wearing a shirt and tie approached them with his phone out. “Do I need to call the police?”

Duke released Serena and pulled out his badge. “I just have a few questions for Ms. Hopewell.”

“It’s all right, Randy.” Serena flicked her fingers.

When the manager walked away, Duke asked, “Where can I find Young?”

“I’m not sure.” Serena rubbed the tattoo on her wrist. “But he was in here the same time your friend was here when she was asking me questions about the cabin, sat right next to her. Maybe even did something to her phone.”

Duke’s blood ran cold. “What?”

“She went to the ladies’, left her phone on the bar, and it looked like Jordan picked it up.”

“Did they leave together?” Duke’s heart was thundering in his chest.

“No, but...”

“But what?” Duke’s hands fisted on the bar. “I’m sure the FBI can find something on you, Serena, from your years running with the Lords of Chaos.”

Her jaw hardened. “But she left and then he left not long after they were having a hushed conversation—like he didn’t want me to hear what they were saying.”

“And did you hear anything they were saying?”

“I heard him mention the Ravens.”

“The Ravens? What’s that?”

“That’s the name of my cabin—you know, the one you broke into before someone blew up your car.”

* * *

B
ETH
DROPPED
TO
the nearest chair, her crutch falling to the ground. “My mother was murdered? Here?”

“I’m afraid so, Beth.” Jordan pulled a gun from his pocket and aimed it at her.

“The picture.” Beth put a hand to her temple where her pulse throbbed. “The woman with the strawberry blond hair... Was that her?”

“I knew you’d found those pictures. I knew you and Agent Harper were out here, and I thought I could stop you by shooting out the gas tank on his car, but I was too late.” He smoothed the pad of his thumb over his eyebrow. “I knew she’d led you to those pictures. How else could you have found them?”

Beth folded her hands in her lap, trying to hold it all together even though she felt amazingly relaxed—maybe because she’d reached the moment of truth.

“You don’t seem surprised or skeptical that a dead woman could’ve led someone to a bunch of pictures.”

He sat on the arm of the chair across from her. “That’s because your mother was Quileute and so are you.”

Scarlett reaching out to her and bringing her along in her dream quest made sense now, but with that hair color, her mother probably wasn’t full-blooded Quileute.

Beth trapped her hands between her knees. Jordan Young most likely murdered her mother for reasons she didn’t know yet, but she wasn’t ready to go there with him. He still might let her go.

“Why did you take me here? Why are you telling me all this?”

“You want to know your identity, don’t you?” He spread his hands. “That’s why you concocted the story that you were here for the Timberline Trio, although you thought you were Heather Brice for a while, didn’t you? I would’ve been content if you had continued along that path. Why didn’t you?”

“Duke—Agent Harper—requested DNA from the Brices and ran a cross-check with mine.” She plucked her useless phone from her pocket. “I’ve called him, you know. I told him I was on my way here.”

“That would be hard to do with a phone without a battery.” He dipped into his front pocket and held up a battery pinched between his thumb and forefinger.

Beth’s stomach rolled. “Are you going to tell me about my mother? Her name? Why she was murdered?”

“Your mother.” He stroked his chin. “Angie was lovely, delicate, so much more refined than Lorna, even though my wife was the one with the money.”

“Your wife died. You said she drowned.” Beth clenched her bottom lip between her teeth to keep it from trembling. Had he killed his wife, too?

“That was later.” He ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair. “When Angie got pregnant, I realized it was my wife’s fault we couldn’t have a baby.”

The knots in Beth’s gut tightened, almost cutting off her breath.

Jordan Young was her father.

His blue eyes, the precise shade of her own, lit up. “That’s right, Beth. I’m your father.”

She gripped the arms of the chair and vaulted out of it, but her legs wouldn’t support her and she stumbled backward, falling onto the chair’s cushion.

“Why? Why did you kill her? Because she got pregnant and had your child?”

His brows collided over his nose. “If she had gone away quietly, like she did at first, it wouldn’t have been a problem. But she decided to come back. I was married to a very wealthy woman and had a father-in-law who thought the world of me. How do you think he would’ve felt after discovering I’d gotten some Indian pregnant?”

Beth flinched. “But I must’ve been two years old. She’d kept the secret that long.”

“You weren’t two at the time. Your adoptive parents changed your age and birth certificate to mask your true identity. You were a baby, barely one year old. Angie left when you were first born, but then she returned. She shouldn’t have come back, Beth.”

“You murdered my mother to keep her quiet? To get rid of a messy problem?”

“It was more of an accident, to tell you the truth. She knew I was never going to leave Lorna, and she knew I wanted her to keep quiet.” He clucked his tongue. “Your mother wasn’t as sweet and innocent as she appeared. You have the pictures to prove that. She tried to extort money out of me.”

“Maybe she just wanted child support for me.”

“Whatever you want to call it. She also found the pictures of the other women—silly bitch to think she was the only one.”

Beth’s nose stung. How could she be related to this monster? Duke had been right. It would’ve been better to stay in the dark.

“Did you shoot at me? Set the bear traps? Beat Rebecca?”

“Bill was more than happy to help with Rebecca. I was just trying to scare you away, but you wouldn’t go away—just like your mother. As soon as I heard Beth St. Regis of
Cold Case Chronicles
was in town, I knew there was a problem.”

“Y...you knew who I was all this time?”

“Of course. When I offered you up to the market, I insisted on having some say in where you went.”

“So, I have you to thank for my cold, unfeeling parents.”

He shrugged. “What do you expect from a couple who would take a child off the black market? But I was your father, Beth. I followed your career with great pride—until you came here.”

A movement beyond Jordan’s shoulder caught her eye. Something had flickered at the window of the back door.

“What led you here?” Jordan glanced at the fireplace. “Did she speak to you from beyond? I knew she had the gift, not as strong as Scarlett Easton’s, but I always feared it.”

Was that Duke at the back door? She coughed. “It started with the Pacific Chorus frog. It was a toy I’d had from my earliest years. I finally tracked it down to Timberline because of the Wyatt Carson story on TV. And it was the visions and nightmares I’d always had of a lush forest filled with terror.”

A glimmer of light flashed from the laundry room for a second and Beth held her breath as Jordan cocked his head.

She rushed on. “Why would I feel such fear? Was I here in the cabin at one point?”

“You were here when I murdered her.”

Beth bent over at the waist, bitter bile rising in her throat. “You killed her in front of her child?”

“It wasn’t planned. It was an accident. She just wouldn’t shut up about what I owed her and how she was going to get it out of me.” He waved the gun in her face and for the first time she really believed he’d kill her.

“I’m not like my mother. I don’t want anything out of you. I was going to leave Timberline anyway. I’ll never come back here.”

“We’re alike, you and I.” He wagged a finger at her. “I could see that when I watched your show. A hard charger. I admire that, Beth.”