A Texas Family

“The actor?” Jena asked as they walked out.

“Yeah.”

“Isn’t he married?”

“So? I’m not picky.”

“You’re a nut.”

Before Hil could respond, Jena’s cell buzzed, and she ran into the bedroom to get it. “It’s Blake,” she said.

“I’ll take a bath and give you some privacy.” Grabbing a T-shirt out of a drawer, Hil disappeared into the bathroom.

“Hi, Blake.” She sat on the bed.

“I was getting worried. You didn’t call.”

“I didn’t realize you wanted me to.”

“Of course. I worry about you going back to that place.”

“I’m fine.”

“Did you talk to the constable?”

“Yes, and he’s being very cooperative.”

“I don’t know why you don’t let me handle it. Then you wouldn’t have to go back there.”

She drew a deep breath. Blake was a master manipulator. “My mother and my sister are here, and I wanted to see them. If I need help, you’ll be the first person I call.”

There was a long pause. “The office is not the same without you.”

“I’ve been gone one day.”

“It feels like a month.”

She gripped her phone. Blake was ten years her senior and good to her, but he tended to push too hard and that immediately sent alarms sounding through her. When she’d started working for Blake’s firm, she was hired as a receptionist, and she was happy to get the job. It paid well. Then one evening Blake and his team were working a major high-profile case and one of the assistants called in sick. Blake’s secretary asked if she could stay late and help out.

The next day Blake complimented her on her hard work and that made her feel good about herself. The personal assistant who’d been ill soon quit because she was having a difficult pregnancy. Blake offered Jena the job, and she’d gladly accepted. Her job was basically being at Blake’s beck and call. Between his secretary and Jena, they kept him on track and on time. Jena usually joined the entourage who went with him to court, and she loved that part of her work.

Jena looked on Blake as a father figure. He looked on her as something more. They’d gone out a few times, and she made it clear she wasn’t ready for the kind of commitment he wanted. She didn’t know if she would ever be.

Of course, he’d wanted to know why. She had to be honest, so she told him about her ordeal in Willow Creek. As a lawyer, he was outraged and determined to get justice for her. He offered to do it pro bono.

But she refused to let him fight her battles. If she did, it would move their relationship to another level, and she didn’t want that. She listened when he told her that her rights had been grossly violated and Asa Corbett should be in jail. Nine years was long enough, she’d decided. She had to face her past. She had to know about her child.

“Jena?”

“Oh...sorry.” She’d drifted away from the conversation. “I’ll probably stay longer than I’d planned. My mom is not well, and I need to help my sister with her.”

“Take as long as you need, but don’t let that country constable take advantage of you.”

“I won’t.” She couldn’t imagine Carson doing that, but then, she hardly knew him.

“I could take care of everything, and you wouldn’t even have to see the Corbetts.”

She gritted her teeth. Blake did not get the meaning of the word no. “I’ve got to go. I’ll call tomorrow. ’Bye.” She clicked off and slipped the phone back into her purse.

“Through?” Hil asked from the doorway in a T-shirt that had Kiss My Grits on it.

“Yeah.” She got her nightclothes out of her suitcase and went into the bathroom to calm down. Blake could be so sweet. Other times he was controlling. She would only ask for his help as a last resort. She could handle this on her own.

When she came out, Hilary was sitting on the floor, her back against the bed, her head resting on the mattress as she stared at the ceiling.

Jena followed her gaze and slid down beside her, looking up. “You painted that?” A mural of a baby-blue sky, fluffy white clouds with a rainbow shooting across, graced the ceiling.

“Yeah. It’s relaxing, isn’t it?”

“Mmm.”

“I sit here or lie in bed and dream about what’s at the end of the rainbow. A place where the phrase ‘poor white trash’ doesn’t exist. Where rumors and gossip are unheard of. Where there are beautiful homes with manicured lawns and gorgeous flowers. And I live in one of them with a man who loves and respects me.” Hil turned her head to look at Jena. “What do you dream about?”

She swallowed hard. “I dream one day this big empty hole in my heart will be filled. I’ll wake up one morning and be free from the past. But most of all I dream of holding my child in my a-arms.” Even though she tried to stop it, her voice cracked.

“Oh, Jen-Jen.”

Hilary hugged her, and then they both burst into tears—two girls from the wrong side of town dreaming of a better way of life. For Hilary, her dream would probably never come true. She was stuck in Willow Creek. That broke Jena’s heart.

For herself, her dream was just within her grasp.

CHAPTER THREE

ASA DIDN’T FEEL well and went to bed early. Aunt Fran gave him something to help him rest, so Carson didn’t get a chance to talk to him. The next morning Asa was still asleep when Carson had to take the kids to school, but he told his aunt to call when Asa was up. He wasn’t sure how to confront his father, considering the man’s mental state, which was precarious, but he had to do it.

He had a sick ache in the pit of his stomach at what had been done to Jena Brooks. For he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that her baby had been taken by his father. He just couldn’t figure out why, especially since Asa didn’t believe the baby was Jared’s.

A life for a life, his dad had told her. Could that mean...? He couldn’t even finish the thought in his head. What kind of a monster would kill an innocent newborn? Not one he wanted to be related to.

There had to be an answer somewhere. There were other people involved in this, and the only way to find out who, was to look through Bernard Milliner’s files, as he had been the constable at the time. Since Jared’s case was a murder, the sheriff’s office would have handled the investigation, but it happened in Bernie’s precinct, and he would have been there on the scene of both murders.

When Carson reached his office, he started looking through the files. His office was filled with regular office equipment and filing cabinets. He also had a small storage room that housed old files. Nothing much happened in Willow Creek, but all cases were documented, and the records went back over fifty years.

He found the paper work and sat down to read. Jared’s body had been found by Roland at 8:12 p.m. on a Thursday. Bernie had a note jotted on the side: Asa sent Roland to look for Jared when he didn’t come home. Carson already knew this. He had been able to fly home three days after the murder, and Asa was still ranting and raving about revenge. Carson had asked the doctor to give him something to calm him. But Asa had still been frighteningly angry. To him, it seemed Lamar’s death wasn’t enough. He wanted more. Did he get what he wanted?

It had been a horrific time, and Carson didn’t look forward to the thought of reliving it. To find answers, though, he had to go back.

Lamar Brooks was found at his house at 6:05 a.m. the next morning. Just like Jared, he’d been killed with a shotgun blast to the chest as he got out of his truck. Asa was the logical suspect, but ballistics could not match the gun with Asa’s. The murder weapon had never been found and neither had the murderer. What a mess.