Page 11

Chapter Eleven

S eth focused the lens on the smiling group of fourth graders surrounding Mayor Susan Birmingham as she read “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” from a rocking chair and snapped several photos in quick succession. He checked the compositions on his camera to ensure at least one would be usable. “Thanks, everyone.”

He said goodbye to front office staffer who’d accompanied him to the classroom before slipping out of the school. With any luck, he’d have the captions written and the photos sent to his editor within the hour, freeing him up to follow up with Leslie Updike, his FinCEN contact. She hadn’t responded to his text yet, and he was too impatient to wait for her to do so. A phone call might produce better results.

Less than sixty minutes later, he punched connect on his cell and prayed Leslie would pick up his call.

“Leslie Updike.”

“Leslie? It’s Seth Whitman.” He paused, then added, “from The Northern Virginia Herald . We met…”

“At the director’s talk at Fairfax High School a while back. Hold on a sec.”

In the background, he heard muffled speech, then a few seconds of quiet before Leslie returned to the phone. “Sorry about that. Just finished a meeting. What can I do for you?”

Before he could mention his text and Jay Ainsley, Leslie continued, “Oh, sorry, you texted me and I totally blew you off.”

“It’s okay.” Seth was used to be women blowing him off. “I know you’re busy.”

“Not too busy for an afternoon coffee if you’re buying.”

The teasing lilt to her voice caught him off guard. She wasn’t flirting with him, was she? If she was, how was he to respond to that? Indecision froze his tongue.

Leslie chuckled. “It’s only a mocha, and I have a boyfriend. Besides, it will be easier to talk about the case you mentioned in the text outside of the office.”

“Right, sorry. Where and when?”

They settled on Basecamp Coffee Roasters in thirty minutes. After getting her beverage order, Seth checked in with his boss to let him know he’d be out of the office the rest of the day. He arrived at the coffeeshop before Leslie and ordered an iced green tea concoction for himself and a mocha for Leslie. Leslie arrived as he carried the beverages to a corner table.

“Ah, good. I can use a pick-me-up.” She settled into the chair opposite him and grabbed her drink. “The ambrosia of the gods.”

“If you say so.” Seth had never understood the frothy coffee drinks packed with sugar and syrups, but mostly kept that opinion to himself. “Thanks for meeting with me.”

“I must admit to being intrigued by your text. What old case are you interested in?”

He glanced around the half-filled shop, then leaned forward. “Jay Ainsley.”

Her brow furrowed as if she was trying to recall the name. “Not ringing any bells.”

“Fifteen years ago, he was accused of embezzling close to ten million from Topher Robotics but had a fatal heart attack when the cops came to arrest him.”

She snapped her fingers. “Now I remember. I had joined FinCEN only a few months before that. It was big news. Only a couple of million dollars was recovered from an offshore account, right?”

“Less than a million in an account with Jay Ainsley’s name on it and another million or so in an account under New Horizons LLC.” His research had uncovered a person didn’t actually have to visit the Cayman Islands to open a bank account but simply provide the relevant documents, meaning anyone could have set up the account as Jay Ainsley. “Was your office involved in the investigation?”

“Like I said, I was new so didn’t have any direct knowledge of the case, but my former boss, Frank Warner, would know details. He’s now retired.” She sipped her drink. “I can introduce you if you’d like.”

“That would be great.” Seth tamped down his disappointment at not getting answers immediately, but at least they had another lead.

“I’ll text him right now.” Leslie did so. “Why are you interested in this old case?”

“Well, I, um…” He should have come up with a reason before meeting with Leslie, but couldn’t think of a plausible one. Instead, he blurted out the truth. “His daughter asked for my help in clearing his name.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Ah, I see. Pretty, is she?”

His neck heated. Seth resisted the urge to rub it, taking a gulp of his iced green tea to occupy his hands.

“Hey, I’m only teasing.” Leslie tapped his forearm. “It’s a bad habit of mine, and I should learn not to do it with acquaintances.”

“It’s okay.” He swallowed more tea. “I appreciate your help.”

Her phone buzzed. “Looks like Frank remembers the case and is willing to talk with you. I’ll tell him I’m sharing his number with you now.”

His phone alerted him to the incoming text. He quickly composed a new message to Frank, who replied immediately.

I recall the Ainsley case. Happy to discuss. Free this afternoon at four.

I can do four. Where?

My house. 6909 Bright Avenue, McLean.

I’ll be there.

Leslie drained the remainder of her drink. “I gotta run. Good luck with Frank.”

“Thanks for your help.” Seth decided to finish his beverage and plot out the questions he wanted to ask Frank Warner about the Ainsley case. He texted Jetta a quick update and asked if she wanted to accompany him to Frank’s. Her affirmative response made him smile. Too bad it was because of minuscule progress in the case and not to spend more time with him.

* * *

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” Emily raised her eyebrows as her daughter glanced at her. Jetta had been milling about her room ever since Seth left.

“Someone tried to kill you last night.” Jetta slid her gaze away.

Children might grow up, but a mother always knew when they weren’t telling the entire truth. Jetta’s tell was that slight ducking of the head as she broke eye contact. Emily would have smiled had she not been worried about what her youngest was keeping from her. She might have trouble walking with this blasted cast, but she still had a sharp mind.

“Jetta.” The single word snapped her daughter’s attention back to Emily. “I’m your mother. I know when something else is bothering you.”

Tears tumbled down Jetta’s cheeks. She dashed them away with the back of her hand before turning her back on Emily. Her posture stiff, she spoke to the window. “Oh, Mom. I made a huge mess of things, and I’m afraid I’ll do it again.”

“About what?”

“I thought Kyle loved me, that we had a future.”

Emily waited for her to say more, grateful her daughter was finally opening up about what happened in Chicago. She hadn’t wanted to push for answers when Jetta had come home seven months ago, drawn and pale, but as her pregnancy became apparent, Emily had known as mothers do something dreadful had happened to her youngest.

“Then Kyle became more and more possessive.”

As Jetta outlined a few examples, Emily’s heart ached as she revealed how bad it had become with her boyfriend.

“I realized I had to break up with him, that this wasn’t normal behavior. He didn’t take it well, said no one broke up with him. Threatened me, but thank goodness I had the foresight to do it during dinner in a crowded restaurant, so there wasn’t much he could do. I left, having arranged an Uber to pick me up. I thought that was that—he would realize it was over and move on to the next girl.” She huffed a laugh. “I knew he’d already lined her up.”

“He was seeing someone else while dating you?” Outrage on her daughter’s behalf slipped out before Emily could stop herself.

Jetta shrugged. “It was the way he operated, I learned later. He’d begun to come onto me while dating the woman before me. I was foolish and stupid and got sucked in by his charm and good looks, and yes, money. He took me to expensive restaurants and concerts, bought me pricey jewelry. He was older—in his late 30s—and I thought I was so sophisticated, so special. It was all an act he used on young women.”

Concern over the direction the tale was taking inched up Emily’s spine, but she stayed silent as Jetta continued her story.

“Then a few weeks after the breakup, I woke up in the middle of the night to find Kyle in my bedroom.”

Emily’s heart stuttered. No, please God, no.

“Earlier, he apparently had taken my key ring without my knowledge and made a copy of the apartment door key. He told me no one walked away from him. Then he…” She hiccuped as sobs tore through her body. “He, he…he raped me.”

“Jetta, come here. It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.” Emily coaxed her daughter into her arms. Jetta flew into them, rocking Emily back onto the bed. Pain flashed along her leg in its cast, but Emily ignored it. Her daughter needed her. What was a little pain in light of the burden Jetta had been carrying for months?

After Jetta’s tears subsided, she sat up on the side of the bed. “I reported him, Mom. I almost didn’t because he said no one would believe it hadn’t been consensual and that he had friends in high places. And he did. He knew the mayor personally and other Chicago bigwigs. But I decided that even if no one believed me, I would tell the truth. So I did.”

“Did they believe you?” Emily brushed a strand of hair from her damp cheek.

“Yes, they did.” Jetta’s mouth turned down into a grimace. “Mostly because of the physical evidence.”

Emily again praised God for the support Jetta had gotten when reporting the heinous crime. “You’ll need to go back to Chicago for a trial?”

“No. Kyle somehow finagled a deal with the prosecutor’s office for twelve months’ probation and rehab, claiming he’d been high on drugs when he’d come to my apartment. He also insisted I’d given him a key. Since the key was my word against his, it weakened my case. I did get the prosecutor to add a restraining order forbidding Kyle from contacting me in any way.”

Jetta blotted her face with a tissue from the bedside table. “I couldn’t stay in the same city with him. That’s why I quit my job, sublet my apartment, and moved back home.” Fresh tears spilled out. “I don’t know what to do.”

Emily enfolded her into her arms again. “We’ll figure it out with God’s help. Don’t worry.” She hadn’t always been one to point her children to God. Her anger over Jay’s death and the unresolved charges against him, plus the way many members of their church had shunned her in the aftermath, had lingered for years. But recently, she’d realized her mistake in pushing God away when she should have been clinging closer and had reconnected with her Savior at a new church home.

After her daughter’s tears lessened, Jetta laid her head on Emily’s shoulder. “Would you pray for me?”

“Of course.” Emily brought all their concerns before their Heavenly Father, praying for wisdom and peace. When Emily said “Amen,” Jetta stood beside the bed, her hand holding Emily’s.

“Thanks, Mom. I feel better. I didn’t know how to tell you. Even though I knew it wasn’t my fault, somehow it felt like it was since I’d gone out with Kyle for nearly a year.”

Emily squeezed her hand. “It wasn’t.”

“I know that in my head, but my heart is another matter.” She gave a watery smile. “I’m terrified Kyle will find out about the baby, and I don’t even know if I should keep it or give it up for adoption. What if he wants some sort of custody?”

“Those are all questions we’ll figure out together,” Emily reminded her.

“Okay.” She sniffed, then blew her nose. Her phone buzzed and she checked it. “It’s Seth.”

“He’s a fine young man.” Emily had been impressed with her young neighbor and his willingness to help her out at times. “I think he likes you.”

A faint flush stole up her daughter’s cheeks. “It wouldn’t matter if he did, not with the baby. Plus, I thought I could trust Kyle and look how that turned out.”

“Seth doesn’t strike me as a man who would hold your circumstance against you in any way.”

“Perhaps you’re right.” Jetta pocketed the phone. “But I’m not ready to think about dating anyone right now. To completely change the subject, he’s found someone to talk to about the embezzlement, so I need to go meet him.” She hugged Emily. “Love you.”

“Love you too.” As her daughter left with promises to let her know how the meeting went, Emily once again approached the throne of God with her petitions for Jetta’s safety, for the health of her newest grandchild, and for resolution in the years-old mystery of who embezzled millions and blamed her husband. For good measure, she threw in a prayer that Jetta and Seth would find happiness together, for her mother’s intuition told her the two would be good for each other.