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The Tessarae Inn |
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Regrets In Jade Tones
CHAPTER 14 Viki put her arms around Todd’s shoulder as they both looked down at Jack fast asleep in his crib in Viki’s bedroom at Llanfair. Todd stepped back and glanced around the room. What was with woman and their obsession with floral patterns? He felt like he was in a freeze-dried florist shop. It was a good thing that Jack was asleep because all of these busy flowers would probably warp his mind. “He’s safe, Todd,” said Viki. Her eyes were all soft and misty and that bothered him. He didn’t like been reminded of what was at stake. “I promise you that all of us will protect him. And I know you are going to find Starr and bring her home.” “Blair didn’t come back?” “No. I haven’t seen her since she left earlier. I think she’s doing what she thinks she has to do.” “What she has to do is trust me to handle it this, Viki. What she has to do is stay out of it and trust me.” Viki bit her lower lip then walked closer to him. She gave his shoulders a light squeeze then released her grip, walked out of the room and shut the door. Todd brushed his hand lightly over Jack’s forehead. Why did it all have to be so damn difficult? All he wanted was Blair and his children. She blamed herself for the loss of their first son, the one who lived as a constant ache in his heart, just like she blamed herself for everything else. For such a long time he counted on that. He wielded her guilt like a sword to cut her into shreds whenever she threatened to break away from him. And the last time had nearly killed them both. And for what? There had been nothing he wanted more than for it to be his child she was carrying and there was nothing she wanted more than to give him a son—her guilt, his loss. Everything they both wanted was within the breathless whispers of a cryptic code of the heart but he refused to hear and to count. Instead he turned a blind eye to her and pulled out his sword of retribution. So much wasted time. So much pain. So much unnecessary grief. Now that he had finally tossed the damn sword away, someone else had come into their lives to tear it apart and she didn’t trust him to make it right again. She didn’t trust him. He glanced at his watch. It was time to leave. He leaned over and kissed Jack’s cheek. The softness of the skin made him catch his breath. ======= Blair dialed the number at Llanfair. When Viki answered and told her Todd had been there then reassured her that Jack was safe and sound and either she or Ben was in the room with him at all times, she finally let herself exhale. Jack was safe. It had been a rough couple of hours. The scene at the back office of Capricorn completely unnerved her. Earlier, when Todd called and told her to take Jack to Viki’s and then to bring Brianna with her to the club, she squelched her urge to ask questions. Something about the tone of Todd’s voice signaled to her that she had to be discrete. Luckily the four of them—Toni, RJ, Todd and herself—had agreed early on to a code. The word Zodiac or a zodiac sign thrown into the sentence meant meet me at the office at Capricorn. Somehow she had decoded the part about bringing Brianna with her. Hopefully, the police who were monitoring incoming calls had little interest in a conversation about how happy Todd was that Starr was a Leo because it meant she was tenacious and brave as was her nanny. She expected that Todd wanted to recruit Brianna to serve as a special set of eyes and ears to the police investigation. She was wrong. Poor Brianna didn’t have a chance against RJ and much less Todd. They lit into her and the truth spilled across the floor like smelly vomit. Brianna had been dating Rick St. Jean for weeks. It was Rick’s car that was found. Rick had kidnapped Starr and Jason. Starr got into the car because she had met Rick that day at JStarr. Rick kidnapped Starr and Jason because he was angry that she hired Toni as the principle photographer for the launch campaign. What? It was all so crazy! How could a simple business decision set off this horrible cascade of pain? Blair looked up from where she was sitting on the lower steps of the staircase when she heard someone approaching. It was Bo. “Where’s Todd, Blair?” She felt as if her mind was rushing in a thousand directions at once. She looked up at Bo and tried to remember what he said. What did he want? “Where’s your husband?” “I don’t know.” Bo pressed his lips together and nodded his head. He reached out his hand to her. “Come on into the living room. I have something to tell you and I think we both need to sit down.” Blair stood up but felt her knees threaten to buckle. She was so tired. Her little girl still wasn’t home and as it turned out the kidnapping WAS her fault. Now Bo was going to tell her what she already knew. She had been a fool to trust Rick St. Jean. “We have some information,” said Bo as he settled across from her on the facing couch and leaned forward with a small notebook balanced in the palm of his right hand. “The car that was found belongs to a Rick St. Jean who works for you at your new company.” Blair nodded. “It looks as if he is the one who took Starr. We don’t know why but maybe you can assist us now that you know who the culprit is.” She was too tired and drained to spin a lie. Besides this was about finding Starr and nothing else mattered. “He was angry over a business decision. He was angry because I hired Toni Reynolds to work as the principle photographer on the campaign.” Bo blinked rapidly for a few seconds. “He took Starr because you hired someone he didn’t like?” The expression on Bo’s face was oddly comforting. “It doesn’t make any sense to me either, Bo, but I do know he didn’t like the decision.” Bo leaned toward her even more and softened his voice. “Blair, don’t blame yourself.” “How can I not?” “We have some further information.” The expression on Bo’s face disturbed her. She felt the air begin to seep out of the room. “What kind of information? It’s not Starr is it? She’s not…” “No,” he said angling his hand toward her as if to hold her back. “No. Calm down. As far as we know, Starr is fine. The information is about Rick St Jean, though, and it’s not good.” “Tell me.” Bo glanced at his notebook. “Rick St. Jean it seems is an alias. His real name is Wyatt Cooper. He was accused but not convicted of kidnapping a little girl thirteen or so years ago.” The air in the room seemed to escape in a loud swooshing sound. Blair felt dizzy. “What happened to the little girl?” Bo averted his eyes. “They don’t know,” he said softly. “She never came home?” Bo didn’t answer. He looked down at his hands. “She never came home, did she, Bo?” “No.” “Do you think he will hurt Starr?” Bo looked at her directly. “I won’t lie to you, Blair. I don’t know. I suspect that he’s a very dangerous man but we are still searching for any indications of previous crimes.” “You think he’s committed other crimes?” “Probably. The folks we have been able to locate who knew him around the time of the previous kidnapping give conflicting reports. Some describe a very violent, manipulative and vicious man, while others say he is loyal and kind. What they all agree on is that he has almost a genius level IQ. It’s possible then that whatever he did in the past he was able to cover up and/or never get caught. Whatever the true story is, someone with very sophisticated skills has all but wiped the slate clean and covered his tracks. We keep hitting brick walls.” “I see.” Blair felt herself shutting down. What had Mrs. Cole said? The world is not always tolerant of intelligence without self-restraint. Maybe the truth was just the opposite. Blair felt as if she was going to be sick. Bo studied her for a few moments then said, “I’m not stupid. I know Todd is running a shadow investigation, but he has no idea of who he’s really dealing with. Cooper may hesitate to hurt Starr but I suspect he won’t stop to take a breath before killing Todd or RJ. I need to know where they are, Blair.” “I honestly don’t know. Todd was at…” Tired or not, she wasn’t going to just cough up information that might impede Todd and RJ. “Todd was at The Sun an hour or so ago but he left.” “Was RJ with him?” “Yes.” “He knows the kidnapper is most likely the man posing as Rick St. Jean, right?” “Yes.” “How?” “He found out that Rick was dating Brianna.” Bo checked his notebook. “Your nanny?” “Yes.” “But you didn’t know?” “Not until an hour or so ago.” Bo glanced around the room and nodded at an officer in the far corner. He shifted his gaze back to Blair. “When you left here, where did you go?” “I took Jack to Viki’s.” “So Brianna is there?” “She may be, but I think she suspects that we are on to her. She may have left.” “Can you tell me anything else?” “No.” “Well, there is one piece of good news. We’ve found Cooper’s defense attorney for the child kidnapping case. She may be able to give us some insights into him. Hank has a call into her.” “Nora?” “No, it’s not Nora.” “Is it someone we know? Someone local?” “Not any longer but …” “Is it someone who will care about what happens to Starr? I mean she defended that man. Will she help us?” “I hope so, Blair.”
Chapter 15 Regrets In Jade Tones FAN FICTION
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