Читать книгу Justice - Debra Webb - Страница 9

Noon had come and gone by the time Kayla showered twice—once just wasn’t enough, with her feeling as if that perp’s blood had penetrated deep into her pores. She’d scrubbed until her skin felt raw.

She laid the hair dryer aside and stared at her reflection. But was the blood really what bothered her just now? Peter Hadden’s words kept echoing in her brain. We have reason to suspect your friend Marshall is eyeball deep in a smuggling ring.

Not possible.

Rainy’s husband would never be involved with any sort of criminal activity. Not knowingly anyway.

Rainy’s husband.

Kayla looked away from the telling emotion in her eyes. She’d gotten a little too attached to Marshall these past few months. It wasn’t intentional…she hadn’t meant to allow her feelings to stray into dangerous territory. But it had been like trying to stop an avalanche. Impossible.

She’d always genuinely adored Marshall. Who wouldn’t? He was handsome, well-built, immensely charming and he had treated Rainy as if she were the absolute center of his universe. Who wouldn’t want a man like that?

No. Kayla shook off that line of thinking and retreated to her bedroom to pull on some clean clothes. It wasn’t about Marshall either. It was about Rainy.

Kayla sighed as she looked at her unmade bed. There was just never enough time. She dug through a pile of freshly laundered clothes that she hadn’t put away yet and selected her favorite jeans.

Rainy had always teased Kayla about her ability to make a place look lived-in without any real effort. That was the way Kayla preferred things—no fuss.

She tugged on her jeans. She missed Rainy so much. The hurt and tension stemming from her murder had drawn Kayla and Marshall together, that’s all. She knew better than most that stress did that sort of thing. It happened when you felt lost or detached from the rest of the world. You reached out to the closest human who might understand.

Her thoughts drifted to her final year at Athena Academy. Rainy had graduated long before and gone off to Harvard. Alex had graduated as well, one year previously. Though Kayla had loved her other Cassandra sisters, she’d missed Rainy and Alex to the point of distraction. Her Navajo heritage had tugged at her more strongly that year than any other. She’d just felt out of sorts, torn between what she’d been taught as a child and all that she’d learned at Athena.

Not that anything she’d experienced at Athena could be called bad in any way, but it had been different than the usual academic curriculum. Martial arts, weaponry, survival courses, multiple foreign languages. Too many other available studies to recall at the moment. The overall goal was the advancement and empowerment of women. All good. But somehow, in her senior year, Kayla had gotten off track, had lost some vital part of herself. In the search to regain completeness, she’d met and fallen for a cocky young officer from the Air Force base.

The image of the man she’d allowed to break her heart all those years ago flashed briefly through Kayla’s mind. Her automatic instinct was to banish any thought of him. But Josie’s call a couple weeks ago had Kayla hesitating. Josie Lockworth was a dear friend and a Cassandra, as well as a rising star in the Air Force. The same branch of the military in which Jazz’s father still served.

Mike Bridges wanted to know his daughter. Jasmine Michelle Ryan. The daughter Kayla had raised all alone. Admittedly, he had sent child support since the day Jazz was born, twelve years ago next month. And Kayla had been blessed with the full support of her family, so to say she’d done this alone wasn’t exactly accurate.

But so many times she had felt alone.

She shouldered into a sweatshirt, pulled her hair loose and began to braid it. Maybe that was part of the reason she’d been drawn to Marshall so strongly.

It had been so very long since she’d allowed herself to need a man on a personal level, much less an intimate one. Peter Hadden slipped into her troubled thoughts next. Her heart reacted instantly, picking up a few extra, foolish beats.

She couldn’t help smiling when she thought of the way he always looked a little rumpled. Sexy as hell. Totally the opposite of meticulously groomed Marshall. Peter Hadden was one of those men who made the just-dragged-out-of-bed look so appealing.

Damn him.

How many times had she longed to run her fingers through his tousled hair? To yank his rumpled suit clean off his body. To ensure that it was properly laundered and pressed, of course, she’d assured herself.

Yeah, right.

And those eyes. Amazing, she admitted, allowing the momentary lapse in sanity while no one was around to notice. But it was that damned smile that got to her the fastest. Sexy, flirty, and so warm. No, not warm. Hot.

And even more than that, she found his dogged persistence dangerously tempting. No matter how often she pushed him away, he kept coming back. You had to love a guy who didn’t give up.

Why couldn’t she simply enjoy him? Her fingers faltered in their work as she secured the end of her waist-long braid. Good question. She was twenty-nine. She’d scarcely even dated since Jazz became a part of her life. What prevented her from having a no-strings physical relationship with a man?

Warmth spread down her limbs at the concept.

Mike popped back into her head. Because her life was complicated enough.

She’d fallen for a sexy smile and amazing eyes once before. Though Mike’s were hazel, the same combination of green and blue that Jazz had inherited, the effect was the same. He’d turned Kayla inside out with just a look.

Maybe it was past time she’d allowed a man back into her life. Didn’t her own mother and sister broach that very subject now and again? Like clockwork.

Still, now was not the time. Until those behind Rainy’s murder and the fate of her offspring were solved, getting involved with anyone was out of the question. Especially considering this latest turn of events where Hadden was concerned. Kayla owed it to Marshall to protect him.

No. She owed it to Rainy.

Rainy had loved Marshall. Kayla would protect him for that very reason if for no other.

She walked over to her bedside table and picked up the framed photograph of her precious daughter. Jazz had the same long dark hair as Kayla, the same features. Only the color of her eyes had made it from her father’s side of the gene pool. No fancy Ivy League college or high-powered career could have made Kayla’s life more complete. Like all Athena graduates she had received a scholarship offer from a prestigious school, Princeton, in fact. But Jazz was far more important to Kayla than anything else.

The idea that Rainy might have at least one child out there—a child she hadn’t even known about—squeezed at Kayla’s heart. What had become of that child or children—if it even existed—was just another piece of the puzzle surrounding Rainy’s death.

During Rainy’s autopsy, Alex had discovered that Rainy still had her appendix. Yet, all those years ago in school, Rainy had supposedly had an appendectomy during seventh grade.

In the autopsy, Alex had also discovered scars—old scars—on Rainy’s ovaries. Now the remaining Cassandra’s were certain that someone had actually faked the appendectomy to mine her ovaries, stealing her precious eggs.

Marshall had explained that when he and Rainy hadn’t conceived, they’d sought help from a specialist to no avail. That must have been when Rainy had begun to suspect the truth. And she’d never had a chance to tell her friends those suspicions.

Kayla desperately needed to talk to that specialist. But Dr. Deborah Halburg had been out of the country for months now. No one knew when she was expected to return to her practice in Tucson.

Darcy Steele, a Cassandra as well as a private investigator, had managed to find one woman, a Las Vegas showgirl known as Cleo Patra, who had gotten paid to be a surrogate mother around the same time as Rainy’s supposed appendectomy. Cleo had given birth to a baby, but had no idea what had happened to the child.

Alex had connected with Justin Cohen, whose sister had died giving birth to a surrogate baby about nine months after that time. Justin was certain Athena Academy had something to do with his sister’s death, and the Cassandras had come to believe him.

Tory, using her reporter’s instincts and connections, had discovered that a fertility clinic had been burglarized all those years ago and that one of the missing sperm specimens belonged to Navy SEAL and hero Thomas King. And when Tory had been sent to interview King on a completely unrelated story, someone had tried to kill them both.

Sam had taken down the Cipher, the man who’d killed Rainy.

Josie, who had connections in Army Intelligence, had looked for more information on the Cipher and had learned of an obscure lab, numbered 33, connected to some kind of an experiment called “cipher.” So far, they had found no connection between Lab 33 and Athena Academy. In fact, they’d found no further information about the mysterious lab at all. But the investigation was far from over.

Using the skills Athena Academy as well as life had taught them, the Cassandras would work together to solve the rest of this mystery. Rainy might never have had the opportunity to know her child. But, if that child existed, it would know about its biological mother.

The telephone rang and Kayla jerked out of her agonizing thoughts.

She’d already heard that the two injured perps were out of surgery and stable. Maybe the investigator had more questions. She hoped not. Even the idea of a shooting being questioned by superiors gave most cops the willies. Kayla was no exception. Though she knew she hadn’t done anything wrong, that fact didn’t keep her from experiencing a moment’s trepidation.

“Ryan.”

“Kayla, it’s Alex.”

A new kind of anticipation erupted inside Kayla. “You have news?” She could scarcely breathe as she waited for Alex to respond. Alexandra Forsythe had once been Kayla’s best friend. That relationship had been strained this past decade or so. But she and Alex were working on that. It was a damned shame it had taken Rainy’s death to make them both realize they couldn’t let their old disagreement fester forever.

Alex was still working with Justin Cohen, who was now an FBI agent, to find the truth about Justin’s sister and how her death might be connected to Rainy’s, so many years later.

“Not the news you’d like to hear,” Alex told her, her tone far too somber.

“What’s up?” Kayla sat down on the edge of the bed and tried not to jump to any conclusions or fear the worst. Even if all their leads ran into dead ends they had to keep searching. Couldn’t stop until they knew the whole truth.

“This may be nothing, but I’ve got a feeling we shouldn’t let it pass without finding out.” Alex hesitated a moment as if she wasn’t one hundred percent certain of how to proceed. “Allison called me this morning.”

Allison Gracelyn had attended Athena. She’d been in Rainy’s grade and was older than the Cassandras. Allison and Rainy had been good friends. Since Allison’s mother had founded Athena, Allison now served as a consultant on the school’s board. Like Kayla and the other Cassandras, Allison grieved Rainy’s loss.

Alex continued, “I got the distinct impression that she was fishing. She’d tried to call Tory but couldn’t get her. She’s off on some story. Anyway, Allison wanted to know if we anticipated any further damage from Shannon Conner. I told her we thought Tory had that situation under control. But during the course of the conversation, Allison mentioned that there was an Athena Academy meeting of the board at one-thirty this afternoon.”

“You think I should be there,” Kayla offered. Though she hadn’t been invited. That little detail wouldn’t stop her. Kayla glanced at the clock. 1:15 p.m. She might make it if she left right away.

“I do, Kayla.” Alex sighed. “It’s difficult for me to bring myself to speak this way about the school, but something somewhere isn’t right. One or more members of the staff are hiding something. We have to know what that is.”

Betsy Stone immediately came to mind. The Cassandras had learned that Ms. Stone, Athena’s school nurse, had also worked part-time for a Dr. Henry Reagan, at the time of Rainy’s “appendectomy.” They were convinced that Reagan had something to do with the surrogate mothers and Rainy’s eggs. Dr. Reagan had been Justin Cohen’s sister’s doctor during her pregnancy, as well as Cleo Patra’s.

Nurse Stone admitted having worked with Dr. Reagan two days a week in his office years before his death, but knew nothing of any unethical practices.

Then there was Christine Evans, Athena’s principal since the day the doors opened. Alex felt certain Christine was hiding something. Kayla got the same impression.

But hunches and gut instincts alone didn’t solve cases.

“I’m on my way,” Kayla assured Alex. It felt so good to talk to her again without all those years of tension in the way. Mike Bridges had done more than break Kayla’s heart. Getting involved with him had caused a twelve-year rift between Alex and Kayla. Alex had tried to talk Kayla out of getting too serious with Mike all those years ago. They’d argued bitterly. But that gap was slowly closing now. “I’ll let you know how it goes.”

At 1:25 p.m. Kayla turned off Olympus Road and headed down Script Pass. She might make it on time. Showing up uninvited was tactless enough. Walking in once the meeting had officially begun went against the grain of even the most liberal etiquette.

She stopped at the new guard shack that graced the entryway to the school and shuddered as she was reminded of just why the guard was now necessary. Christine Evans had decided, after Rainy’s death and subsequent suspicious events at the school, to post a guard twenty-four hours a day, even on holidays, to monitor visitors.

She flashed her ID and continued on to the school buildings.

She parked in the circle drive in front of the main building and jumped out of the Jeep before it stopped rocking at the curb.

Kayla hurried up the walk that cut across the well-manicured lawn. Usually when she arrived at the academy she took a moment to admire the lawn and beautiful fountain surrounded by the current season’s gorgeous flowers. But that was the furthest thing from her mind today. The fact of the matter was, most things had taken a back seat to Rainy’s murder since that muggy August night.

Whatever her distractions, Kayla always experienced an overwhelming sense of déjà vu when she entered those massive front entry doors. Boundless halls. Quiet rooms filled with memories. Voices and images from the past spent within these walls filtered through her mind, reminding her of those wondrous formative years shared with the Cassandras.

If there was a long-buried secret hidden within these walls—walls that had always felt safe—Kayla had to find it. Not only for Rainy, but for all who would pass through these halls in the years to come. This school was a very special place. Whatever wrongs had been committed here would be righted.

Kayla bypassed Christine’s office and headed straight for the conference room. Thankfully, the board members were just settling down around the long table as she entered the room.

Christine Evans was the first to notice Kayla’s arrival. A former military woman, Christine still had that authoritative bearing, squared shoulders and head held high. Her short gray hair added to her distinguished air. “Kayla.” She met her halfway across the room. Gave her a quick hug. “What brings you here today?” Worry lines marred her brow as she surveyed Kayla’s face. Long ago, a military training accident had left Christine blind in her left eye, but she missed nothing. “Nothing’s happened, I hope.”

After what they’d all been through since Rainy’s death, the worst was the first thing that came to mind for anyone involved. Christine’s expression—and the question—were sincere.

“Kayla.” Allison Gracelyn came up next to Christine before Kayla could respond. Her shoulder-length brown hair was pulled back in a large barrette. “I haven’t seen you since…” Her words drifted off. She didn’t have to say the rest…since the funeral. Allison’s brown eyes reflected the same ache that Kayla felt.

Kayla managed a smile, pressed her cheek to Allison’s in a brief gesture of affection. “It’s good to see you, Allison.”

One by one the members of the board who were present greeted Kayla, made her feel welcome despite the unexpectedness of her appearance. No matter how cordial each was, Kayla could feel the underlying tension simmering in the room.

“I heard about today’s meeting from a friend,” Kayla said, prompted by Vice Principal Rebecca Claussen’s question as to what brought her to the school today. “As a member of law enforcement in Athens,” she took a moment to meet each board member’s gaze, “and a graduate of Athena, I feel a close bond with this school and recent events have raised a number of concerns.”

Now she had everyone’s attention.

Christine paled. Her vice principal, Rebecca, looked every bit as stricken. Her bright hazel eyes stood out in stark contrast to her fair skin and dark, gray-streaked hair.

“Explain what you mean by concerns,” Adam Gracelyn demanded in the judicial tone he’d honed over a lifetime on the Arizona Supreme Court as vice chief justice. His brown eyes bored into Kayla’s, ensuring she understood that he possessed a great deal of power and influence. He would not be intimidated.

Which was not her intent, she argued mentally.

Or was it?

There were secrets here and she knew it. Some she had already learned. Like the fact that a Dr. Carl Bradford had been dismissed around the time Rainy’s eggs were probably mined. Christine had insisted that his dismissal was a result of inappropriate behavior toward Nurse Betsy Stone. Somehow that just didn’t sit right with Kayla.

Kayla doubted she would have any better luck interrogating this group than she’d had with Betsy Stone. Whatever secrets they shared, if any, they intended to keep quiet as long as possible.

But not all were involved in this conspiracy. She hoped.

Could she allow what one or more persons had done to influence her judgment of everyone affiliated with the school? That didn’t seem fair…but what choice did she have? There simply was no way to know who had participated in the evil scheme that had prevented Rainy from bearing her own children.

No one suggested they sit down, so Kayla pushed aside her troubling thoughts and forged onward. “There are still a number of unanswered questions regarding Rainy,” she said bluntly. “And the leads seem to dead-end at the school.”

Christine flared her hands. “We’ve cooperated with your every request. What more would you have us do?”

“This has something to do with that awful Conner woman’s exposé,” Allison countered, her brown eyes every bit as stern as her father, the judge’s. Allison wasn’t actually a board member, just a consultant who flew in from D.C. for certain meetings, but she had every intention of seeing that the school was run as her mother, Marion, the school’s founder, would have wanted. Her motives were good. But how far would she go to protect the school’s reputation?

“In part,” Kayla allowed. “Although I think Tory has the situation under control with her insider stories on the academy. Viewers believe Tory. When she exposed Shannon Conner’s lies for what they were, I’m confident she undid most of the damage.” Tory had also recently gotten the better of Shannon when Shannon had tried to hurt Air Force captain Josie Lockworth’s career with yet another tasteless exposé on Athena students.

“But how can we be sure,” the elder Gracelyn argued. “We have to take a long, hard look at how this kind of negative publicity could affect funding.”

Nods and sounds of agreement went around the room.

“Especially considering that we’re moving into an election year,” Christine added sagely.

“You’re aware,” the judge said to Kayla, “that our funding from the government is at the President’s leisure. Should a new commander-in-chief decide that our work here has outgrown its worth, that funding will vanish in a puff of bureaucratic smoke.”

Kayla knew how much the school depended upon funding. The truth was that the government’s paltry contribution was not nearly enough. Wealthy private donors were the school’s livelihood. Bad publicity could do far-reaching damage. That was one reason the school had always maintained such a low profile. No publicity equated to good publicity was the motto. Don’t draw attention. For weeks Shannon Conner and her twisted accusations had drawn the scorching scrutiny of most of the free world.

Uncertainty lanced Kayla. She hadn’t wanted to believe that Shannon’s stories carried any merit, but when she thought of what had been done to Rainy, doubt crept in.

Had this revered school experimented on its students?

Was there anyone else who’d fallen victim as Rainy had?

Kayla swallowed back the doubt. She wouldn’t believe that. Couldn’t believe it. This situation had to be isolated, involving one or two members of the staff at most. To believe anything else would shake the entire foundation of all she held dear.

“I know you’re all very concerned about the publicity over the past few months, but its novelty has almost worn off,” she said. “Once the fall session started and Tory worked her magic with some positive stories, Athena was scarcely mentioned in the media anymore. I think that’s behind us.” She braced herself for a maelstrom. Her next words would wreak a havoc of their own. “What I don’t think we’ve cleared up is this school’s involvement in what happened to Rainy.”

Rebecca Claussen threw up her hands. “I can’t believe you’re bringing that up again.” She shook her head. “What do we have to say to convince you that whatever happened didn’t happen here?”

“Kayla,” Christine put in, “you know we wouldn’t allow anything like that. How could you even think such a thing?”

The Gracelyns glared at her. No one wanted to discuss the issue. No one wanted to believe. The truth was, no one even wanted to know. They wanted this over and forgotten. Buried.

Hell, Kayla didn’t want to consider the idea either. But it was necessary. As a cop, she could put aside her personal feelings and see that need. But these people weren’t cops. And she was talking about their baby. Everyone in this room had given their all for Athena Academy. Allison’s own mother, the founder, had paid the ultimate sacrifice. She had died here.

That last thought stuck in Kayla’s brain and reverberated for a moment. Marion Gracelyn had been murdered on school grounds a few years back. She was thought to have been a victim of an interrupted burglary. But was that what really happened?

Before any more new conspiracy theories could formulate, Kayla clarified her position on the matter of Rainy’s medical mix-up. “I know it didn’t happen here. Both you and Nurse Stone,” she said to Christine, “have explained that Rainy was rushed to the hospital in Phoenix when she got sick. And the mistake in her medical chart must have happened there. I know. But we’re missing something. And I can’t let this matter rest until I find the whole truth.” She looked straight at Christine as she said the last.

Christine averted her gaze.

The judge broke his simmering silence. “You do what you have to do, Lieutenant Ryan.” That he used her title and last name told Kayla the position he’d taken. She was now considered an enemy to some degree. “This school is beyond reproach,” he continued. “As an Athena graduate you should be ashamed of yourself for even suggesting that this fine institution would be involved in any such evil deeds.” He leveled a gaze on Kayla that unsettled her to her very core. “Do what you must, but remember we have nothing to hide.”

Judge Gracelyn’s words were still echoing in Kayla’s ears as she reached her daughter’s school later that afternoon. She pushed the unsettling subject aside and focused on the here and now. Pinal County Elementary. Next year Jazz would attend middle school. That idea made Kayla feel old.

She pulled alongside the schoolyard curb behind the dozens of other vehicles waiting for the final bell to ring. It felt impossible that Jazz was almost twelve. How could that much time have passed so quickly?

Kayla thought of those first few months after graduating from Athena, when her pregnancy could no longer be kept secret. It hadn’t been so easy then. Though her parents had accepted her situation more readily than Kayla would have guessed, there had been some amount of strain. And yet, each and every member of her generous family had pitched in, gone above and beyond to help. When Jazz had turned one, Kayla had known she couldn’t wait any longer to get on with her life. She’d gone to the police academy and had acquired a college degree in night school. And when she’d finished, Collin Masters had just been elected county sheriff and had invited her to join his department. It hadn’t hurt that he was a longtime friend of Kayla’s father.

She loved her job and hadn’t looked back.

Until now.

She couldn’t help wondering how life might have been different if things hadn’t happened as they had. What if she’d never met Mike Bridges? Never fallen for the cocky jerk?

She wouldn’t have Jazz.

Just then, Jasmine Ryan came bursting through the school doors.

A grin split across Kayla’s face as she watched Jazz hurry toward her through the sea of students. It didn’t matter what might have been. All that mattered was that she and Jazz had each other. No way would Kayla’s life have been complete without this little girl. No way.

“I hate boys!”

This announcement was made scarcely before Jazz plopped into the passenger seat.

Kayla smothered a laugh. “Really? Now, why is that?”

Her brow furrowed with concentration, Jazz buckled her seat belt. “Because they’re stupid.” Her task complete, she leaned back and folded her arms over her chest. “Why would I like a stupid boy?”

Kayla resisted the urge to encourage her daughter to keep that attitude. She pulled away from the curb and pointed the Jeep in the direction of home.

At age eleven, boys could seem awfully silly. By twelve or thirteen a girl’s outlook on the subject always changed. She glanced at her daughter. Nature had a way of working its magic. Poor kid. She had no idea. There wasn’t much parents could say to prepare their children for adolescence.

During the drive home the conversation shifted to Christmas. Friday was the last day of school, Jazz reminded her. Like Kayla could forget. That meant she had to get the last of her shopping done this week.

She parked in the short drive in front of their small bungalow.

“I’ll get the mail!” Jazz unbuckled herself and bounded out the door. She slowed only long enough to tug her backpack onto her shoulders. Since she’d gotten that pen pal from Croatia she couldn’t wait to check the mail every day.

Kayla eased out of the vehicle a bit more slowly. The aches and pains from this morning’s bust had settled into her muscles and joints. She’d hit the ground hard after Hadden made that lunge into the open. He’d left her no choice. Mentally swearing, mostly at him, she pushed his image aside. She wasn’t going to let him creep back into her thoughts any more than she would the ongoing investigation into Athena Academy. Her time with her daughter was far too precious. There would be plenty of time to mull over the day’s events after Jazz was tucked in for the night.

Kayla had just unlocked the front door and pushed it inward when her daughter raced up beside her.

“Yours.” Jazz thrust a handful of mail at her. “Mine.” Her face beaming, she held up one envelope for her mother to see the overseas address. “I gotta go do my homework.” She sprinted through the door like a gazelle.

Inside, Kayla flipped through the envelopes, tossing a couple in the trash and a couple more onto the stack where next month’s bills waited. The last one brought her up short. She scrutinized the elegantly embossed return address, her heart pounding.

Athena Academy.

Her fingers cold and shaking, she tore open the envelope. By the time she unfolded the enclosed letter her knees had given way, forcing her to seek a place to sit down.

It is with great pleasure that we extend this very special invitation….

Jasmine Michelle Ryan…

…seventh-grade class commencing in September of the upcoming year…

Attendance at Athena Academy was by invitation only. No amount of money…no amount of power and influence got a girl through those doors. Only the best…only the ones considered special were invited.

Kayla knew her daughter was exceptionally bright. Extremely athletic. Those qualities combined with her age made her the perfect candidate.

But…God…Kayla wasn’t ready for this. Not now.

Athena wanted Jazz.