Cox, Suzanne - Unexpected Daughter Read online

  “Now, you go with your grandmother and we’ll be together again soon.”

  Dylan squeezed Brijette’s waist before letting go and running down the steps and back to the car. Brijette followed her until she was near enough to smell Cade’s mother’s spicy perfume.

  “Thank you for bringing her. I know you probably didn’t want to.”

  Mrs. Wheeler fingered the hem of her blouse. “She needed to see you.”

  “I’m not guilty of this, I swear. Someone’s setting me up and I know who it is. I’ll prove it, too.”

  Brijette started back up the steps.

  “She’s a good girl. You’ve done a good job raising her by yourself.”

  At first she didn’t think her mouth would function, she was so shocked. Cade’s mother was giving her a compliment? “I… Thank you. It’s been easy. She’s got a big heart.”

  “She comes from fine stock.”

  Naturally, the woman thought Dylan’s Wheeler blood automatically made her a wonderful child. Brijette began to climb the stairs again and she almost missed the woman’s next words.

  “On both sides.”

  This time when Brijette turned back to look at Mrs. Wheeler, she was hurrying to the car. Not that it mattered because Brijette had absolutely nothing to say to that.

  She went inside, bypassing the mess, digging for a pen and an old notebook of Dylan’s. Grabbing a chair that had been shoved across the room, she pulled it to the kitchen table and began to write. Everything had to be timed perfectly. She’d watch and wait, and when she had her chance she’d make her move. She scribbled in the notebook: 9:00 p.m. Be on the hill by the tire distribution center.

  Robert’s business was the ideal place from which to run a drug operation, with truckloads of tires being shipped every day. Couldn’t the sheriff see that? She imagined Matt Wright saw it clearly, but being able to do something about it was another matter. This was her only option.

  She put pen to paper again: 12:00 midnight. Check the doors and windows. Her problems had begun here at Robert’s business when she was seventeen. The drugs in her backpack made perfect sense. The truck driver who’d given them to her hadn’t done it for himself; he’d done it for Robert. And the guy hadn’t vanished by himself, either. The police had never found him. How could she not have realized before what Robert was doing? She doodled on the paper, finally writing: 4:00 a.m. Robert’s house for his morning routine. He wouldn’t get off this time and she wasn’t going to jail for him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CADE THREW ONE LAST T-shirt in his suitcase and zipped it shut as he heard his mother and Dylan clatter through the front door.

  He met them in the guest room which had become Dylan’s when they arrived in Dallas three days ago. He figured it would take many visits with Emalea Cooper to help Dylan if Brijette actually went to jail. He paused, realizing the thought of Dylan seeing a psychologist in Dallas had never crossed his mind. He guessed his subconscious knew he’d be going back to Cypress Landing to stay. He’d made a promise to his father, but that was before he’d found out he had a daughter. And what was best for her had to come before promises he made to anyone.

  “Where are you going?” His mother stared at him from the doorway.

  “I’m going back to Cypress Landing. You don’t think I can stay in Dallas with everything that’s going on back there, do you?”

  Mrs. Wheeler glanced at Dylan and her lips thinned. “You can’t do a thing to help Brijette. She got herself into this and put Dylan in danger. She’ll have to pay the price.”

  Cade sighed, pushing his hair back from his forehead. “Mother, you know she didn’t do this.”

  “I don’t know that.”

  “Stop it!” Dylan shouted, and threw a shopping bag across the room.

  She spun around to face him. “You’re going to help my mom and I’m going with you.” She turned around to Cade’s mother and put her hands on her hips in a manner that was all Brijette. “Grandma, stop acting like my mom is guilty. She’s not.”

  She rushed to Cade, burying her face in his shirt, quickly soaking the front. She sobbed and he smoothed the thick blond hair so much like his own.

  “You’ll help my mom, won’t you?” She looked at him, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  He nodded. “Of course I will. But you’ve got to stay here. If you go back to Cypress Landing, whoever is trying to make your mom look guilty might try to use you to stop her. It’s not safe for you there.”

  Watery green eyes watched him before she bobbed her head once. She squeezed his waist, her gaze never wavering. “You love her, don’t you? You love my mom.”

  He blotted the wet spots on her cheeks with his hand. “Yes, I do, Dylan, very much. When this is finished I’m going to live in Cypress Landing and the three of us can be together.”

  From across the room he heard his mother inhale sharply, but he didn’t care. She’d been pampered for too long. He needed to take care of two other very important women in his life.

  “Can you make my mom love you, too?”

  He grinned. “Now, that I can’t answer for sure, but I’m going to try extra hard.”

  He held on to her, hoping that when he saw her next she wouldn’t have reason to cry again. He glanced across the room at his mother, whose face was slightly pale.

  “Just remember, Mother, the other side of the tracks becomes your side, once you step across.”

  LATE EVENING SHADOWS were beginning to creep across her front porch when Brijette heard a car in the driveway. She stuffed her notebook in a kitchen drawer and walked to the window to see if the sheriff’s office had managed to find a deputy who hadn’t yet been by her house.

  Since she’d left the court the other day, there had been a steady stream of officers coming by to check up on her. She’d finally asked Jackson if they considered her a flight risk, but he’d only frowned, then mumbled how he didn’t want anything to happen to her. That’s when she realized they thought whoever had set her up might not wait for her to be sent to jail. They might be more interested in making sure she couldn’t implicate them, just like they had with Jody.

  The thought of what had happened to Jody had lingered in her brain since she’d realized she’d seen the same footprints at his house. Rumors had circulated back then that she might have been involved, especially when she’d found the body. She knew who to hold responsible for Jody’s death, but she didn’t know exactly what role Robert had played or why. Nor could she be certain to what lengths he’d go to keep his name clear. Fear twisted her insides when she saw a truck, not a police cruiser, pulling up to the house. But, in the next instant, she recognized the vehicle and hurried to the front.

  Cade had one foot on the porch when she ran out to him.

  “Where’s Dylan? What’s wrong?”

  He gripped her shoulders and drew her to his chest. “She’s fine, still in Dallas with my mom. I’m just glad you’re here and in one piece.”

  She backed away even though she felt safer in his arms.

  “Why are you here?”

  “I’m not letting you deal with this alone. Don’t argue with me. Let’s go inside and see what needs to be done.”

  She tried to smile, but found herself too tired, and only half her mouth curved.

  After leading Cade to the kitchen, she pulled the notebook from the drawer. The look on his face as he surveyed the room would have made her laugh except she knew that eventually she’d have to clean the mess up.

  “Well, I can see you haven’t been busy cleaning house these last few days.”

  “Not even close. The sheriff’s people tore the place apart and I haven’t had the heart or the time to fix it. But if you’re here to help me with a plan, you’re a little late. Let me show you what I’ve been doing.”

  She dropped into the chair next to Cade and flipped open the notebook. Her goal was to get the book, plus hopefully, some solid evidence to the sheriff after tonight. Soon she’d have everything s
he needed to give Robert a taste of being behind bars.

  “I CAN’T BELIEVE this is what you’ve been doing. Do you have a death wish?”

  Brijette slammed the notebook shut. “No, but if I wait for the police, I’ll be sitting in jail for the next several years.”

  She tried to stand but he blocked her with his arm. “We’re going to get past this together, like a family.”

  Brijette hadn’t cried since she got home from jail, but the tears pooled and threatened to overflow. Hearing Cade say out loud that they were a family shattered her restraint. She rested her head in her hands and let the tears run onto her hands and arms. She felt a dish towel press against her arm and she grabbed it, mopping at the liquid.

  Cade placed his hands on her knees and she forced herself to meet those green eyes. “Everything’s going to be fine, Brijette. We’re going to be fine.”

  She rolled the towel in her hand. “You have to understand that my plan will work. I know the evidence we need is in Robert’s building.”

  “Let the police get it.”

  “They can’t search there without good reason, and unfortunately, because I say so isn’t reason enough.”

  Cade took the notebook and skimmed the first page. “Well, you’d better fill me in on what to do tonight, because I’m going with you.”

  “Fine. This is what you need to do.”

  He pushed the paper aside, squinting at her. “Wait a minute. No arguments? You’re not going to say you don’t want me to go?”

  She reached for the pen on the table and yanked the notebook back in front of her. “Of course not, I need your help and I think we’ll be fine. I know Robert’s schedule as well as my own.”

  BRIJETTE’S PLAN called for them to start their search shortly after midnight. A tree limb that she let go smacked Cade in the chest. Clouds chased across the sky, frequently obscuring the half moon and leaving Cade to pray that he wouldn’t get separated from Brijette. They were slinking along to Robert’s business through the woods, and if the mosquitoes didn’t suck them dry they’d probably be fine.

  Ahead of him, he could barely see Brijette’s silhouette as she crouched among the brush. He squatted beside her.

  The underbrush stopped a few feet in front of them and in the clearing stood the tire factory. “What now?” He tried hard to discern her features in the dim light.

  “I go inside and find what I need. You wait here and call me on my cell if you see someone coming.”

  He shook his head, and the leaves on the bush beside him rattled. “Let’s try this. You stay here and call me while I go in and look around.”

  “No way. You don’t know the building, nor do you know what you’re looking for. Remember, I worked here that summer ten years ago and I was here again giving flu shots this past fall.”

  “I still don’t like it. But what if I at least go check the warehouse while you check in the offices? Between the two of us surely we’ll be able to find what Robert’s hiding.”

  She remained quiet and he knew she didn’t want her plan changed, but his idea was the better one. They’d cover more ground searching if they were both inside.

  “You’re right. Just set your phone on vibrate and add me onto your speed dial. I’ve already got you on mine. Plus, we can text message back and forth if we need to.”

  He nodded. “What about security guards? Alarms? Cameras?”

  “There are no guards or cameras. There is an alarm, but I’ve got that taken care of.”

  “How?”

  Her teeth flashed as she grinned. “Oh, it’s just a little something I learned in jail.”

  TEN MINUTES LATER, alone with his tiny penlight and the thick smell of rubber, Cade was making his way through the stacks of tires in the warehouse. He hoped to find some evidence that would incriminate Robert, but he wondered how Brijette was going to pass on any information they found. The sheriff would automatically know she’d broken in. Near the bay doors, tires appeared ready to be shipped first thing in the morning, and at tire number three on this rack he hit the jackpot. He tugged at a black plastic bag taped securely to the inside of the tire, and it ripped loose. Digging his finger inside a small opening, he made a hole in the bag and poured a handful of pills into his palm—exactly what they needed to at least get the sheriff in here to do a search. He reached for his phone and across the room a door squeaked. He froze.

  Squatting among the tires, Cade turned off his penlight and held on to his phone, afraid to make a sound, but desperately trying to hit Brijette’s speed dial number while keeping the glow of the phone concealed. He raised himself to see above the tires and the flourescent bulbs in the ceiling flashed on. He hunkered down again, trying to warn Brijette, then he thought he heard a man’s voice say “damned alarm” after which the warehouse grew quiet. Glancing over the top of the tires again, he found the room empty. Brijette had headed for Robert’s office and he had no idea where that could be, but whoever was just there probably knew. Cade ran across the concrete floor, dialing Brijette’s number.

  Brijette laid another file on the desktop. Robert hadn’t been nearly as secretive as she’d expected. She found what she needed in a small filing cabinet, nearly unnoticeable in a hollow in the office wall and half hidden by a bookshelf. She’d finally managed to move the bookshelf and pound the lock off the filing cabinet with a hammer she’d found. She fingered the notes and financial statements, figuring there was enough there to warrant further investigation, though she’d been hoping to find lots of cash that couldn’t be traced to the business or even the drugs themselves. Maybe Cade had had better luck. The click of the door made her jump and she smiled, still studying the papers.

  “I’m glad you’re here. I think I’ve found what we need.”

  “And I bet you were expecting someone else.”

  The phone vibrated in her pocket. Robert was right. And Cade’s phone call was a bit too late.

  HEADLIGHTS GLARED in the window of the warehouse and Cade raced for the nearest door in the hope of getting a call to the sheriff from somewhere outside the building.

  Crossing the paved drive, Cade crashed past the weeds and up a small slope. He cursed the moon, he cursed the country, and he cursed the cell phone company that chose this minute to have technical difficulties. Cell phone service in the backwoods was always sketchy but damn, why now, when he needed it most? He wanted to tear through the factory and find Robert’s office, find Brijette, but he had no idea where to begin. He scrambled along the edge of the trees where he could see who had driven into the parking area. He wished it would be the sheriff, but, of course, he’d never been very lucky.

  The car sat in the gravel lot for several minutes. A cloud that had been masking the moonlight moved aside and Cade noted a Mercedes emblem on the car’s hood as the men exited. He couldn’t see their faces, but he also didn’t know a soul in Cypress Landing who drove the latest full-size sedan on the market. The four men entered the building and he hurried around to the back of the factory. He had to find another entry and he had to find Brijette. In his ear, static from the phone crackled and the dispatcher at the sheriff’s office came on the line.

  “Give me Sheriff Wright or Jackson Cooper. Hell, give me anybody you can get fast.”

  SHE COULDN’T BELIEVE that Robert had held a gun to her and put her in this chair. He’d walked in the door a few minutes ago and now she was his prisoner.

  “I wish things didn’t have to be like this, Brijette.” Robert squatted beside the chair and tightened the ropes around her legs.

  “You’re responsible for what happened to me ten years ago, aren’t you?”

  Robert stood and shook his head. “I never intended for that to happen, but the guy we were delivering to got caught and he gave your name to the police. I couldn’t let my driver who gave you the package get caught, too, because eventually the sheriff might have sniffed his way back to me. So, I helped him escape. I hate that you didn’t get off, but you only spent a few months in
youth lockup. It could’ve been worse.”

  “Yeah, it could have been like this.”

  “Oh, come on, Brijette, nothing bad will happen to you. I’m getting the money you didn’t find—” he pulled a metal box from a hidden compartment in one of the filing cabinets “—and I’m leaving the country. Things are getting a bit too tight around here for me.” He tugged at the collar of his shirt and grinned.

  “Why would you do this, Robert? Why are you selling drugs? You’ve got a great business.”

  “And a terrible gambling habit. Or at least I did for a long time. I owed a guy money and I agreed to ship some drugs for him. I only planned to do it for a while, but the more I did it, the more money he and I both made. He didn’t want me to quit.”

  “Is your nephew who took the horse involved, too?”

  Robert snorted. “I don’t have a nephew involved. When I told the man I’ve been moving the drugs for that I wanted it to end he refused to allow me to stop. Said he needed me. He took the horse just to be sure I knew he meant it. Once I realized what had happened, I made up the story about a nephew to get the sheriff off the case. I started doing these prescription drugs on the side a lot more the last few months, thanks to you and especially to Doc Wheeler and his absentmindedness with his prescription pad. I needed the extra money to help me leave the country.” He waved a stack of green bills in front of her before stuffing it in a nylon bag. “Now I’m gone.”

  “Just like that. What about me? Are you going to kill me like you killed Jody?”

  Robert paused. “I did not kill that boy.” He kept his head down, slowly packing the last of the money into the bag.

  “I went by to talk to him but he wouldn’t keep quiet. He held a gun on me and told me to call the sheriff. We struggled. The gun went off and he got killed.”

  “How convenient for you. Will my death be that easy?”

  He pushed the rolling chair she was in toward a small storeroom.