CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
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“I’m so sorry, but I’m still not understanding what you’re saying. Julia could not be the one responsible for giving David inside information about my whereabouts.” Remy had to have misheard Brody for what seemed like the umpteenth time, because he was talking about a seventy-year-old woman who had treated her like a daughter for all these years. Betrayal cut deep, but it was nothing compared to what Ralph must be feeling. “You have to be wrong. It just doesn’t make sense. I mean, why would she do such a thing…to me, of all people?”
Brody had already explained this to her twice over, but she still couldn’t wrap her mind around it. Julia had been envious of her business relationship with Ralph? Hadn’t all three of them formed an unusually close relationship after they lost their son and she’d lost her sister?
“We shared our grief, Brody,” Remy pointed out desperately, having done so a couple of times already. Brody remained sitting in the chair alongside the gurney, listening to her express her disappointment and hurt. God, did it hurt more now than ever. “I need to see Ralph. And Susan. Oh, my God. Susan tried to call me, Brody. She tried to warn me, and I have to wonder if she didn’t somehow know.”
“I already called her and she’s driving to the hospital right now,” Brody assured her as she wiped another tear from her face. She inhaled with a small stutter and realized that she was no longer alone. “Let me just say that she is not happy with you. She recalled overhearing Julia talking to someone on the phone about what time Carol arrived at work in the morning. She said she had a sick feeling when she started to connect the two incidents, only you hung up on her before she had a chance to tell you. I’m not so sure I stand a chance in protecting you from that particular force of nature.”
Remy couldn’t bring herself to laugh at his attempt to lighten the mood when a very important relationship in her life apparently hadn’t been important at all. How had she not seen Julia for who she was, let alone deceiving her husband and those around them?
“Julia Forsythe is in custody as we speak, Remy. You might need to wait until tomorrow to visit Ralph. He was given a sedative after her arrest. He needed to rest. His body isn’t up to handling the stress of the situation quite yet.” Brody stood and retrieved her bloodstained jacket off the bed, not hesitating to toss it in the garbage pail. He’d been by her side the entire time the doctor had checked her over. Other than a severe contusion to the surrounding muscle tissue on her cheek, a possible bruised but not fractured cheekbone, and a sore throat that would last for a few days, she was just fine. Only she wasn’t…if only he could have bandaged up the latest injury to her heart. “From what the authorities have gathered, Julia thought she could manipulate Varan into killing you without exposing herself as his source. She was the one fronting the money for his apartment. She didn’t want you taking up her husband’s time anymore and didn’t want you to have the business. She never wanted you as a surrogate for her son. She never expected Ralph to retire and hand the reins over to you either, but she found it was something she might have to live with because she would then have her husband all to herself. She actually tried to corral that psychopath once she and Ralph talked today, but Varan had already had a plan of his own.”
“Is that why she tried several times to stop us from going to see Carol?” Remy asked, hearing this part for the first time. She’d been stuck on the fact that Julia had thought so little of her, or that she’d purposefully set out to prevent Ralph from giving up his company. She recalled saying numerous times that Ralph shouldn’t retire, because it was the one thing that had kept him going after Phillip’s death. Remy understood the replacement part, but Julia hadn’t ever expressed any reluctance to have her around. It should have been Julia who Ralph turned to in his time of grief instead of his business, but that hadn’t given her the right to commit murder by surrogate. “This is…this is horrifying. You said that they police found the clip to my weapon in her purse. She might as well have just shot me herself. This devastation just won’t stop getting worse.”
“It has stopped,” Brody reassured her, stepping close to her and taking a seat beside her on the bed. “It might not feel like it now, but you’ll find even ground once you speak with Ralph and the two of you have set up a new working relationship without Julia pouring poison in Ralph’s ear to constantly tear you two apart.”
“I didn’t even recognize she was doing it, Brody. What will happen to Julia now?” Remy asked, unsure of why she still felt responsible for a woman capable of murder. “I mean, how will—”
“Knock, knock,” a woman called out, pushing the heavy door open as she peered inside. Remy had been about to tell the pretty brunette that she had the wrong room when Brody told her to come in, instructing her to set a bag onto the chair. She held onto it, though, while introductions were made.
“And this is the woman who can answer some of your questions,” Brody said, gesturing toward the woman dressed in a beautiful light grey business suit. “Remy, I’d like you to meet Ashlyn Ellis—Keane’s better half. She’s a federal prosecutor, so she should be able to walk you and Ralph through what might be in the foreseeable future for everyone involved.”
“Of course I can help, though this will fall under the circuit court’s jurisdiction as far as criminal proceedings go,” Ashlyn advised with a sad smile, obviously having been given the facts of the case. She tried to make up for it by lifting the bag she’d brought with her. “I have a change of clothes and some new heels based on sizes given to me by our mutual friend, Brody.”
Remy offered her hand as Brody laughed at how Ashlyn had just thrown him under the bus so easily. Didn’t he know that it could have been a Hawaiian shirt and running shoes for all she cared? It didn’t get past her that he’d purposefully brought Ashlyn here to meet another part of the team, respectively, as well as someone who could guide Ralph during the difficult days ahead.
“It’s your new battle uniform, trouble,” Brody whispered to her as he kissed her cheek. “Change and then we’ll deal with the initial details head on before we head back to the estate. There are margaritas on the deck calling our names.”
Remy swallowed back more tears, wondering how there could possibly be more. She hated being an emotional wreck, but the blows just kept coming. What was nice was that she didn’t have to hit back by herself. He understood her need to wear the clothes she did, and his acceptance told her everything she needed know about what kind of man he was.
“You’re in trouble, Brody,” Remy warned softly, wanting this conversation to be more private, but deciding not to waste the time she’d been given. Their future had many, many sunrises ahead of them. She finally lifted her lashes to see his questioning look. “You’re making me fall in love with you, and I read in Cosmo once that a woman should give it at least a year before saying something like that. It tends to scare the shrewd men away.”
“I was in trouble the first day I met you,” Brody said, flashing a sexy smile her way before he escorted Ashlyn outside into the hall to let Remy change. She half expected him to go out into the hallway as well, but he remained behind and leaned up against the door to watch. His dark, tender gaze landed on her as he once again sparked that excitement of living. “And you can throw away that copy of Cosmo. I have a new play book at home that clearly states a week is more than enough time to recognize when one is falling in love. And I’m free-falling right alongside you, trouble.”
*
Brody and Keane walked behind Remy and Ashlyn as they made their way down the cardiac unit. He didn’t think he’d get Remy out of here without seeing Ralph for herself, though he’d still tried for her benefit. The upcoming conversation was going to be hard enough without doing so while one of them had been given a sedative and the emotional wounds were still so fresh.
They’d avoided taking the elevator, though they might have to make an exception on the way down. He didn’t miss that Remy was walking quite tenderly, and he wondered if the nurse hadn’t missed a splinter or two that had embedded into the sensitive soles of her feet. It was something he’d check on the first chance he got after this meeting, and maybe even have her go back downstairs to the emergency room if needed.
How in the hell these women wore high heels twelve hours on end every day was a miracle, and he intended to massage every ache out of her feet upon arriving home and seeing to it that she was taken care of like a queen. It was the least she deserved after a day like today.
He also had it on his agenda to check the software he had running in his search for Moss. One serial killer had been terminated, but another one was still at large—and this one was more cunning and ten times more devious than the previous.
“Are you sure Royce doesn’t need any help downstairs?” Brody asked, thinking of the various threads that still needed to be tied off.
“He has it covered. Calvert also made a few calls,” Keane advised, keeping close tabs on Ashlyn. It wasn’t unusual, but there was an edge to him that hadn’t been there before. “You’ll need to have Remy down at the station by zero nine hundred to give her statement. He also wanted Remy to tell Mr. Forsythe that he’ll be by later this evening. He seemed a bit taken aback that Julia Forsythe had any hand in aiding and abetting Varan’s psychosis.”
“He’s not the only one,” Brody muttered, not looking forward to the upcoming discussion Remy was about to have with her boss and mentor either. That wasn’t what had Keane so worked up though. Brody directed the conversation back toward his friend, in hopes that he would get the full-sized boulder sitting on his shoulders. “I’ll have Remy down to the station first thing in the morning. By the way, thanks for calling Ashlyn in to give Ralph some advice.”
“You and I both know there isn’t much Ashe can do given the circumstances.” Keane shook his head in astonishment at the lengths some people would go to in order to get what they wanted…and it was nothing short of murder for hire. “Julia Forsythe will go to prison and most likely die behind bars, given her role in this scheme. It’s a shame when we can’t even trust the people closest to us.”
“I know you’re not talking about the team,” Brody said in somewhat of a warning, having absolute faith in every team member employed by SSI. “What’s going on with you?”
“No, I’m not talking about our team.” Keane brushed that comment off with irritation, sliding his right hand inside the pocket of his slacks. He did that when he was bothered by something. “I don’t like this other case we’re on, Brody. Moss…he’s a different animal than the ones we’ve taken down. He’s exceptionally smart. He’s cold and calculating. Hell, he broke out of federal prison like it was child’s play. I know he might be gunning for this Shailyn Doyle, but he’s got to be craving some retribution on Calvert. That makes all of us targets by proximity.”
Brody thought back to last week when a UPS truck stopped right inside the driveway, far enough inside the perimeter to breach the sensors. Regardless, that compound was airtight. No one could make their way across the perimeter without being tagged, bagged, and tattooed.
“I want Ashlyn at the compound for the time being.” Brody whistled his astonishment in reaction, the over-the-top shrill causing both women to look over their shoulders. He held up a hand that he hadn’t meant to be so loud. “I’m serious. I’m going to talk to her about it tonight, but I would appreciate it if you had my back on this. She’ll think I’m overreacting to this entire scenario.”
“Things are, um, new for me in this department as well, but I read you loud and clear,” Brody said, totally in agreement that the estate was safer for those they cared about than random apartments spread out across the outlying counties. “I’ve already told Remy I’d like her company out at the property for a bit. She’s already been through enough without having to deal with someone on Moss’ level.”
“They fit the criteria.” Keane didn’t need to point out that the women who meant the world to them were perfect targets for someone as brutally cruel as Moss. Brody liked it better when life was slower, he was in his element behind his machines, and the rest of the team was out following leads on his behalf. He owned mostly Hawaiian shirts for a reason, and it sure as hell wasn’t to get blood on them. “I’ll talk to Calvert about it tonight. I’ve got a bad feeling about this, and you know I’m always right about this kinda shit.”
“You just had to go and jinx the fuck out of this case, didn’t you?”
Conversation ceased as all four of them had come up to Ralph’s hospital room door, with Remy holding everyone up as she rested her hand on the silver handle. Ashlyn stepped back, making room for Brody as he stood close enough for only her to hear his words.
“We’ve got this, Remy. You have me for backup if you need me.”
Remy had her eyes closed, but she slowly lifted her lashes and showed him those baby blues. She was once again thrown in a situation where anger, hurt, and sadness played a part. She was looking to him for something more, and he would see to it that she was given the sun.
“Can I borrow one of your Hawaiian shirts when we get back home?”
Brody smiled, no longer wondering when someone would finally see things his way. She was standing right by his side.
“I thought you’d never ask, trouble.”
~ The End ~
Thank you so much for reading Distant Illusions! I loved the concept of taking someone who lived life to the fullest and pairing him with someone who couldn’t see past tomorrow. They each brought something significant to this story, and I loved how the plot played out.
The Safeguard Series continues with Casual Impressions releasing in July! Grab your pre-order
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Casual Impressions (The Safeguard Series, Book Four)
In the next electrifying novel from USA Today Bestselling Author Kennedy Layne, the Safeguard team is coming ever closer to catching an elusive serial killer who might very well be hunting one of their own…
Sawyer Madison had spent the last few months hunting down a sadistic killer. He and his team don’t seem to be any closer to solving this particular case that has hit a little too close to home.
Camryn Novak had spent most of her childhood, and a large part of her adult life, dealing with her overprotective brother. So when an admirer became a little too obsessed with her due to her high-profile career, she decided it would be simpler to reach out to someone a little less emotionally invested.
Sawyer never expected to bump into the sister of one of his teammates while traveling on assignment for the team’s most important case. Women like her were off limits—one shouldn’t mix pleasure with business. One burning touch was all it took to make his good intentions go up in flames. Unfortunately, it won’t just be her brother’s wrath he’s forced to face when an unknown perp targets Camryn—it might very well be the same psychopath they’ve been hunting all along.