Colby Conspiracy

He had been her father, even if he hadn’t been a part of her everyday life.

And she would miss him.

CHAPTER NINE

FRIDAY MORNING, Victoria was glad to have Lucas back in Chicago. She’d stayed home an extra thirty minutes just to have a cup of coffee with him.

As the elevator opened into the lobby of the Colby Agency, she had to smile. They had been married almost a year now and she still refused to take a single day for granted. When they were apart due to his work in Washington, he called several times to simply say hello and that he missed her.

Warmth spread through her. It felt so good to have the man she loved in her life.

Victoria greeted Elaine, the receptionist who had taken Amy’s place when Amy had moved into the investigative side of the business, as well as several of her investigators as she made her way to her office. Lucas wouldn’t come in until later, after he’d made the final arrangements for the conference call with the specialist who’d evaluated the brainwashing technique used on Jim.

Inside her office, Victoria closed the door and leaned against it for a moment. She was glad Mildred hadn’t been at her desk so she could escape to the privacy of her office without having to answer too many questions this morning.

Jim had finally showed up at his and Tasha’s home last night. He had looked slightly worse for the wear, but he was all in one piece and that was the most important thing. Victoria had called off the massive man-hunt for her son, but her relief was short-lived.

Jim remembered nothing about the past four days. His only blip of memory was of the intense encounter with Tasha. Nothing about the time since—not where he’d stayed, not what he’d done.

At least he was safe. That was something. Tasha would take him to the clinic today where he would be fully evaluated by the team of doctors who had been working with him for the past year. Perhaps they would find some reason for his abrupt regression.

Victoria’s gaze lit on the package on her desk as she crossed the room.

She shrugged off her coat, hung it up and moved behind her desk to see the sender’s name.

Emily Hastings.

A chill went through her, but she shook it off. She couldn’t say what it was about the idea that bothered her, but she’d felt that same sensation of foreboding at the service yesterday when Emily had first mentioned the letters.

Victoria couldn’t imagine what Carter Hastings had been keeping related to the Colby name. Perhaps this was something from the cases he’d worked all those years ago—first her missing son, then James’s murder.

But why would he have kept anything at his residence? And Emily had said letters. What sort of letters?

Victoria sat down and reached for the package. Every instinct warned that she should prepare for the worst, though she couldn’t understand why.

As she opened the package, she considered that she had seen Carter from time to time since those dark, painful days of so long ago, but she hadn’t seen him often. She remembered vividly fourteen years ago when his son had died and then the divorce that had followed. Like hers, Carter’s life had not always been pleasant. But, also like her, the fine detective had been a survivor. She’d noted in the Tribune the numerous times he’d received one commendation or another. Just another thing they’d had in common—when life took a wrong turn, they had thrown themselves into their work.

Victoria withdrew the bundle of envelopes and her heart stumbled as she read her husband’s name penned across the first one. The handwriting was bold but feminine, long, even strokes. The postmark indicated a date six months after her son had gone missing.

Her fingers shaking, she turned over the envelope and withdrew the letter tucked inside.

Dearest James…

Victoria’s heart pounded hard once, then sank low in her chest. But she didn’t stop. She kept reading no matter that the words tore her apart inside.

…cannot help myself…will always love you…

…I live for those moments we spend together…

Victoria moved through letter after letter until she could not bear to read another. She stared at the woman’s name, signed lovingly at the end of each, before allowing the letters to fall from her fingers as her heart shattered into a dozen shards of anguish.

Madelyn Rutland.

How could this be?

How could the man she had loved and trusted…have cheated on her?

One letter had even been addressed to Victoria, but the sender had obviously opted not to go through with mailing it. In the letter, she had warned Victoria that she could not turn her back on her love for James. That Victoria could not expect to keep him…

“Victoria?”

She jumped at the sound of Mildred’s voice on the intercom. Scrambling, she shuffled the letters back into a bundle and shoved them into her desk drawer.

“Yes?” Victoria’s skin felt hot, but she was freezing inside. This couldn’t be right; there had to be a mistake. James had been her rock…

“Tasha is on the line,” Mildred said hurriedly. “She says it’s an emergency.”

Victoria’s heart surged back into her throat. Dear God, what now? She pushed thoughts of the letters out of her mind and grabbed the phone. “Tasha, what’s happened?”

“The police have taken Jim,” she said in a rush, her voice quavering with barely restrained emotion. “He’s a suspect in a murder investigation, Victoria. Murder.”

Ice formed in Victoria’s veins. “What?” She shook herself. “For whose murder?”

“That Detective Hastings,” Tasha explained, tears causing her voice to wobble even more. “They think Jim killed him.”

“Don’t worry,” Victoria told her, but her own fear made the words feel wrong, “Zach and I are on our way.”

Victoria hung up the phone and buzzed for Mildred. “Tell Zach I need him ASAP.”

Mildred didn’t ask any questions. She would recognize the desperation in Victoria’s voice, had heard it before…far too many times.

Grabbing her coat, Victoria rushed to the door, forgetting the letters. She didn’t have time to worry about the past right now.

Right now, she had to help her son.

Zach Ashton was the best attorney on staff at the Colby Agency. She needed him on this. And Ian, she considered on second thought. She could use Ian Michaels, as well.

Just then, it didn’t enter Victoria’s mind; she was too caught up in the frenzy Tasha’s call had set off. But later, when she’d had time to think, she would wonder what it was about her old friend Carter Hastings that had suddenly turned her entire existence upside down.

CHAPTER TEN

EMILY SAT IN the stiff chair of the small conference room. Detective Franko, the homicide detective in charge of her father’s murder investigation, had called her just before noon and asked her to come in for a meeting.

She had expected to receive an update on her father’s case and perhaps answer any final questions as to how they could reach her if need be. Not that she was in a hurry to get back to California. She wasn’t, not really. She wanted to close up her father’s house and take care of his affairs.

But the moment she had arrived at the homicide division, she had been hustled into this cramped conference room with a cup of stale coffee. And that had been almost an hour ago. She had things to do. Sitting here idly wasting time was not on today’s agenda.

She exhaled loudly and tucked her impatience away. Her father’s fellow officers were doing all they could to find out what really had happened in that alley on Monday night. She shouldn’t be cross about having to wait a few minutes. She wanted her father’s killer found, wanted him brought to justice.