Page 15 of The Couple’s Secret (Detective Josie Quinn #23)
Riley removed her hand from her mouth. Her words tumbled out in a rush. “But the police in Brighton Springs checked all the nearby waterways. They even looked at lakes and rivers within a fifty-mile radius. We got an independent dive team to…Wait. What were they doing in Denton?”
“We were hoping you could help us figure that out,” said Gretchen. “There’s something else you should know.”
Josie could sense Riley’s dread, see the flash of terror in her brown eyes followed by a horrifying realization. After years of not knowing, she didn’t want to know what they were about to tell her. Not this.
It was one of the more painful death notifications Josie had had to make. “Your mother and Mr. Lachlan were murdered before their vehicle went into the river.”
“Murdered?” Riley croaked, all the color draining from her face. “How? What are you even talking about? Who would do that? Why?”
“The medical examiner found injuries on both your mother and Tobias Lachlan that are consistent with gunshot wounds to the head,” Josie said.
There was a brief, tense moment where Riley stared at them in disbelief. Then she sagged in the chair. Her hands went to her hair, yanking locks from the bun. Grief and rage burst from her in long, keening wails that made Josie’s teeth hurt.
Before she or Gretchen could react, a vibration shook the house, followed by a gust of cool air.
Jackson rushed into the room, striding toward Riley with singular purpose.
Heavy brown work boots clomped across the hardwood floor.
A gray T-shirt clung to his muscular frame.
Blotches and streaks of several different substances streaked his jeans.
Pain was etched across his handsome face.
He snatched Riley from the chair like he was saving her from toppling over the edge of a cliff, bundling her in his arms.
“Hey,” he whispered, pressing her head to his chest. “I’m here, Ri. I’m here.”
She shook violently in his embrace. Patiently, not even sparing Gretchen and Josie a glance, he stroked a hand up and down her spine and planted kisses against the top of her head.
Her bun was in disarray. Half the hair was loose.
Jackson tugged at her scrunchie and tossed it onto the table.
He ran his fingers through her locks, smoothing them until they hung halfway down her back.
When Riley’s cries slowed to whimpers, he looked over at Josie and Gretchen. Tears gleamed in his eyes, but he blinked them back. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Jackson Wright. My dad was?—”
“We know,” said Josie.
“My brother called me. I wanted to get home before you found out but?—”
Riley lifted her head. “He called me right after he got off the phone with you and then they showed up. They wanted to wait for you, but I made them tell me and…and…oh God, Jacks.”
Jackson’s lips pressed into a thin line. He closed his eyes briefly, taking a deep breath before opening them again. “So it’s true.”
“We’re very sorry for your loss,” Gretchen said.
“Jacks,” Riley said in a shaky voice. “It’s so bad.”
Before he could say another word, Riley blurted out everything Josie and Gretchen had just told her, growing more hysterical with each fact that fell from her lips.
Jackson kept her tucked firmly against his broad chest, listening.
The higher-pitched her voice became and the more agitated she got, the less Josie could understand her words. Jackson, however, had no such trouble.
“Wait,” he said, cutting her off. “Denton? Did you say they were found here?”
“Not the point, Jacks!” Riley said.
He locked eyes with Josie’s and she confirmed it, giving him the location where the vehicle had been found.
Riley fisted his shirt. Her face was red and blotchy, tears still falling freely. “Jacks, I can’t. I can’t. I need?—”
“I know,” he said. “I know. I’ll go get it. Just sit. Can you sit at the table for me? I’ll be right back.”
Without waiting for her answer, he guided her back to her chair and helped lower her into it. Dropping a kiss on her forehead, he disappeared deeper into the house. Every few seconds, he called out to his wife. “Be right there, Ri.”
Beneath the table, Gretchen nudged Josie’s leg with her own.
Riley slumped in her chair, unmoving, eyes vacant.
Was she going into shock? Having a medical event?
Did she have a condition? Had Jackson gone to retrieve medication of some kind?
Just as urgency began to pound through Josie’s veins, he returned.
With a sweater.
It was a yellow cable-knit cardigan that had seen better days.
Jackson knelt next to Riley, murmuring words of instruction and comfort as he manipulated her upper body and wrapped the sweater around her.
“Come on, Ri,” he encouraged her gently, picking up her arms one by one so she could slide them into the sleeves.
She only seemed to come back to life when he finished, swiveling her head to say, “I need a drink.”
“Yeah,” he said huskily. “You and me both. Later, though. I need your head clear right now, okay? How about coffee?”
She nodded weakly.
With a pained smile at Josie and Gretchen, he disappeared into the kitchen.