Blindsided (12 page)

THIRTEEN

C
hief Sylvie Laurent sat at the head of the dining room table, a notepad with all the details she had collected from each person she questioned. She stuck the pencil through her blond hair, pulled back in a tight bun, and closed the pad with a tap.

The dining room chairs were filled, while Ethan remained standing, waiting for the attacks of their pursuers.

The question was who would show their face first?

Would it be Ramsey, looking for retribution for the collapse of his organization? Or would it be Pace, looking to close a case he’d lived and breathed for five years? Or would it be Jared, who at this point had to know he stood on the edge of destruction. That made him more dangerous than Ramsey and Pace combined. He would be desperate.

Ethan searched the faces at the table, landing on the chief’s. “Now that you all have caught the chief up, I have a few questions, if you don’t mind, Chief Laurent. I’m not from around here and might see the pretty picture of family at the dining room table a bit differently.”

Sylvie Laurent gave a wry smile with a knowing nod. “I agree. Go ahead, ask your questions, but I think you’d be surprised in how much I do see.”

Ethan liked the no-nonsense chief. She wouldn’t be someone claiming jurisdiction and pushing the Fed out. She wanted justice as much as him. Ethan was glad to see Roni had her for a friend. He may be a loner, but he knew friends were important.

Never did he think his own friendship with Pace would be on the line, but things seemed to be taking that course.

To the group, Ethan said, “One or more of you is holding something back. Roni has been set up, and in my experience that happens most times by someone close to the victim. Someone posing as a confidante, a champion even. But that isn’t always the case.” His gaze stopped on the uncle. “Clay, you have been neither of these things for Roni, your dead brother’s child who you raised for him. You have worked hard to make her go away.”

Slowly, Clay rose from his chair. “What is this? An ambush against me?”

“You were never Roni’s champion. In fact, you worked hard to marry her to Jared, which would take her from here and leave you in charge of the track. With Wade coming home from the army and Roni not marrying Jared as you had pushed for, you might have found another method to make her go away. Besides the fear of losing your position as CEO at the track, is there another reason why you would want Roni to...disappear?”

“You’re out of line!” the uncle yelled, but Ethan didn’t miss his quick, fretting glance Cora’s way.

Bingo.

Ethan locked gazes with Roni. At her nod, he knew she’d seen it, too. But that didn’t stop the pain of betrayal from playing out on her face. She couldn’t even look Cora’s way.

So Ethan did. “Cora Daniels.”

The petite woman straightened in her chair across from Clay, who hadn’t taken his seat again. Clay’s warning glare spoke louder than his voice. The man had it bad for the family’s maid.

But did she feel the same way? Would she have gone along with Clay’s schemes if she saw no other way for them to be together?

“Ms. Daniels, you have devoted your life to the Spencer children, Roni in particular. She shared with me how you stepped in and filled the role of mother to her. You were more than a maid to them.”

“How could I not?” she asked quietly, offering a sad smile at Roni. “The poor child was in so much pain and didn’t know why. She cried for her mommy while she couldn’t even cry out in pain from her burns. I had to be a voice for her.” Cora’s throat clogged at her surfacing memories. “I...” She swallowed hard. “I couldn’t walk away.”

Ethan grappled with the image Cora painted of Roni as a child. He had to push it aside to stay focused. Stopping his legs from making a beeline for her was the hardest part. He had an overwhelming need to pull her into his arms and push his face into her neck, promising her that her voice would never be silenced again.

Ethan shook his head and pushed out his response to Cora. “Even if that meant you lived up on this isolated mountain raising children that would never be yours, limiting your chances of ever having a family of your own.”

Roni inhaled sharply. “Oh, Cora, I never thought of that. I’m so sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for, honey. I made that decision all on my own. You were a child in need of a mother. I couldn’t turn away from you. I don’t regret anything.”

Ethan wasn’t finished yet. “You were practically a child yourself when you came on board here, correct?”

“I was twenty. I’m sixty years old now.”

“Commendable. Thank you. But why haven’t you retired? I’m sure you’re paid well and could live comfortably for the rest of your life.”

“The Spencers have always blessed me financially, and with living here all these years, I have saved enough to enjoy the rest of my days quite nicely.”

“But...”

“But I’m not ready to retire. Maybe in a few years we’ll revisit the discussion.”

“Revisit? As in retirement is something you have brought up?”

“Sure, but we decided it wasn’t time yet.”

Ethan watched Roni’s gaze drop to her hands in her lap. “We? You mean you and Roni decided?”

“Yes. It’s only the two of us living here now.” She smiled warmly at the only daughter she’d ever had. It all appeared to be copasetic. Nothing to see here.

Or was there?

“You encouraged Roni to take Jared under her wing. I take it you were happy about the engagement?”

“Of course.”

“Can you tell me what your life would have been like for you if she had left here for the racing circuit with her husband?”

The woman laughed. “Lonely, I’m sure, but I would have been happy for her.” She patted her sister’s hand beside her and said, “Jared is a good man. He is. He’s lost right now, and he needs our prayers. I never would have believed he would be capable of such crimes, but I suppose we all have our limits before our sinful natures come out.”

“Are you saying you think Roni pushed your nephew’s limits too far?”

Cora lost her pasted-on smile. She swallowed again, now looking nervous of where this conversation was going. She knew the accolades of all her sacrifices had come to an end. She cleared her throat and shifted in her seat.

Roni stood. “Perhaps it would be easier for all if I left the room. Please, everyone, this is no time to hold anything back. Even if you think it doesn’t amount to anything, or you’re afraid you’ll hurt me in sharing. I’ll be a lot more hurt if you don’t.” To Ethan, she said, “I’m going to go freshen up. It’s been a long few days. Come on, Maddie. I’ll show you your room.”

At his nod, the two women took their leave around the corner. Roni’s boots could be heard tapping up the flight of stairs in the main entrance foyer.

When Roni was out of earshot, he knew the group was out of hers. “All right, Ms. Daniels, you heard Roni. Hold nothing back. Tell us how you really feel.”

The maid couldn’t look at anyone at the table. A sigh of resignation curled her shoulders in. “I was disappointed in how Roni publicly humiliated Jared. Yes, he wronged her, but two wrongs just make more to be fixed. That’s why God commands us to forgive. It’s not just for the person who did the wrongdoing. It’s also for the person who’s been wronged. It’s a time when that person can draw closer to God to depend on Him for comfort and strength.”

“Like you do for your sister,” Ethan said. “I can see she depends on you.”

Tanya jerked in her seat, aware that the conversation had just switched to her turn.

Everyone at the table became aware that they were all under scrutiny and would have to answer questions that went below the surface for things they didn’t want to face themselves.

The place where the truth lay.

He continued, “Cora, you asked Roni to teach Jared to race and encouraged her to help him financially for your sister, correct? Did you feel guilty about living in so much luxury when your sister struggled so much?”

Cora frowned and glanced Tanya’s way. “She’s had it hard. I’ve tried to help her when I can. All I asked was for Roni to teach him what she knows. I had no idea he would be so successful, but yes, I was delighted to see he had such wonderful talent and was able to help his family’s finances. I imagine Jared is crushed that he’s lost that ability to provide for his family like during his winning success.”

“Are you saying you condone Jared’s actions? People died, and Roni could have, too.”

“Of course not. Jared will have to pay for all he’s done.”

“Not if I don’t have factual evidence that will show Jared set Roni up. Right now the FBI has enough on her to put her away for a long time. And if the FBI doesn’t grab her first, there are two other—more dangerous—people who will. I need something that will stop the FBI from pursuing her. Something that will turn their efforts to aiding her instead. Mrs. Finlay, I am going to need to get into Jared’s home. Do you have a key?”

Tanya startled at the question. “Actually, Jared’s been living with me since he was dropped by his sponsors. He had to give up his apartment for a while. Just until he can land another big sponsor. So, yes, I can let you into my house. There’s not much there, though. He really only sleeps there, and I haven’t seen him in days.”

“Yes, that’s because he’s been out trying to kill us.”

A piercing scream reached the group from somewhere above them.

“Roni,” Ethan and Wade said at the same time. Both men raced for the open doorway.

“Promise, stay by Lacey.” Wade commanded his dog to guard his wife and bolted from the room.

Ethan looked back at the chief of police. He didn’t have to say a word. Sylvie Laurent was already on her feet, retrieving her weapon and giving orders for the group to retreat to their safe room.

Ethan followed Wade out through the great room and into the foyer. The stairway curved up to an open landing that led off to a hall of closed doors. Without Wade, Ethan would have had only Roni’s bloodcurdling screams to guide him to the right room. He could have lost precious seconds in reaching her before they stopped—or were stopped.

Tense pain gripped his chest with each thud of his boots on the wood floors. Fear choked him more than when he went up against Guerra and Ramsey.

Her piercing screams grew louder as they neared the last door. Wade reached for the knob and found it locked.

Ethan lifted his boot. One kick splintered the wooden door and opened the entrance for them. He climbed through, tripping on a jagged piece of wood with his leg behind him, but nothing that held him back.

Get to Roni,
echoed through his mind. And nothing or nobody would stop him.

The door opened to a short hall and lounge area. On the other side of the sofa, the door to the bedroom was open and Roni’s screams bounced off the walls around him. He reached her room and fell back a step.

Roni sat in the middle of the floor with arms circling her bent legs pulled up close to her chin. She continued to wail, but not from any physical threat.

The threat surrounding her was an emotional one. One his gun would do nothing to stop.

Everywhere the eye landed, the same eight-by-ten picture showed. An image of some car engulfed in flames. Ethan only gave them a quick glance, the woman beside herself on the floor taking precedence.

Ethan reached her in a sprint. His knees hit the floor as he grabbed her upper arms. “Roni, look at me. Are you hurt?”

She kept her head down, eyes shut.

Wade walked over to where curtains waved into the room.

The window was open.

Someone had gone through it to put these pictures up. But were they still in the house? Had they hurt Roni?

Ethan shook her to engage. “Roni, sweetheart, I need to know if you’re hurt.”

“She’s not hurt, but she’s hurting,” Wade said with one of the pictures in his hand. He’d removed it from the wall next to the window. He looked up from it to scan the room in a circle. “These are pictures of the car crash.”

“
Your
car crash? From when you were kids?”

“That’s our family’s Mercedes. I would remember it anywhere. I pretty much live with this image in my mind every day and night.”

Ethan could see the paleness spreading over Wade’s face. “Stay with me, Wade. Your sister needs you.”

“Right.” Wade gave one last look at the picture in his hand and threw it to the floor. “Let’s get her out of here. The images are tormenting her.”

“I would say both of you.” Ethan cradled Roni in his arms and immediately she latched both arms around his neck in a death grip. He carried her through the doorway and met Maddie entering the other room, her hair wet from a shower and her eyes wide with fright.

“I heard her screaming. I couldn’t get here. Is she all right?”

“Just scared,” Ethan assured her.

Sylvie stepped out of the room behind them with her radio in her hand. “I need to call this in. I won’t mention Roni being here just yet. It’s a break-in and the perpetrator could still be out there. I need my men on this before we have a full-fledged situation on this mountain.”

“I think it’s too late to stop that.” Ethan knew what he had to do. “You can call your men, but I’m also calling mine.”

“I thought you were afraid Roni wouldn’t be treated fairly by the agent in charge. How has that changed?”

Ethan replied over Roni’s shoulder. She held him so tight that he felt her body trembling against him. “I figure being treated fairly won’t matter if she’s dead. Plus they’ll have to question the setup when they see the room. Maybe it will be enough for them to look in another direction.”

Wade opened a walk-in closet with his gun ready. Hangers of clothes scraped along a bar as he jerked them for views behind them. At finding nobody, he said, “I’m going to check the house to see if our company is still inside. Roni should join the others in the safe room,” he said.

“I remember how to get there,” Ethan confirmed. “And then I’ll join you.”

“No. Stay with her.” Wade nodded to the back of his sister still clinging to Ethan. “I’ve never seen Roni need anyone. It looks like I was wrong. She does. She just hides it well.” With that, Wade retreated, tensed and at the ready.