Every Deadly Suspicion

Chapter 47

CHAPTER 47

H ANNA LEFT THE HOSPITAL WITH Nathan’s words ringing in her thoughts. “I know you still have feelings for him.” It’s funny how he knew. He’d made it easy for her to stop lying to herself. She waded through so many emotions right now—about Joe, about Jared, about Nathan. Added to everything was the bunch of letters Joe had written and left for her. He’d written them over the span of twenty-five years. Each one was dated and addressed to her. After the state had cleared all the hospice equipment from her house, they’d left Joe’s valise, saying that he’d wanted her to have it.

Hanna didn’t have the emotional energy to look in it or read the letters right away.

She wanted to talk to Jared but he was at work.

The rest of Sunday involved resting and decompressing. She heard from one of the FBI agents in charge that Gilly had been officially identified by dental records.

“His neck was broken and his skull fractured,” he said. “Coroner thinks Gilly was dead before he was dropped into the shaft.”

Hanna shivered at that thought. “What about the other two corpses?”

“Both of the other bodies showed evidence of gunshot wounds. They were probably killed sometime after Gilly. Hard to be exact right now. Neither of them had any identifying documents on them. We found a purse and a wallet during the search of Buckley’s residence. The purse belonged to Ellen Fargo. The wallet to Alister Driscoll. I read somewhere that Ellen was Chase’s girlfriend years ago, but I can’t place Driscoll.”

Hanna’s jaw dropped. “He was Joe’s public defender.” She’d forgotten that she had called the court asking about Driscoll but had not received a response yet.

“We’ll start with these two IDs. Maybe they belong to our Does. I’ll keep you updated, Chief.”

Chase had killed Devon’s mother, Braden’s grandmother. Hanna had to sit and digest this new information. Was Chase the Lonely Heart Killer? The agent had not mentioned any other purses or IDs. This reminded Hanna that she wanted to find out who had taken Nathan’s place on the Lonely Heart murder case.

Asa stopped by her house to see how she was doing.

“I’m exhausted,” she admitted. “I may take tomorrow off.”

“You deserve it. Try to relax.”

“Who took over the Lonely Heart case?”

“Mason and Trejo.”

“Oh, they’re good.”

They talked briefly about the FBI findings. Asa was as surprised as Hanna about Ellen and the PD Driscoll.

“Interesting about him,” he said. “The court in San Francisco just answered your query regarding Driscoll.”

“Yeah? What did they say?”

“He went missing from San Francisco. He left Dry Oaks after Joe’s conviction and began working there. He was there for at least five years before he disappeared. No one ever considered he’d come back here. He quit and left. Since he was a loner, no report was ever filed.”

“I wonder why he came back here.”

“Could have had a change of heart. He did a poor job for Joe, and maybe he knew Joe was innocent. Something was going on there.”

“We may never know everything. Thanks for all of your hard work.”

“My job. You rest. We have things handled. Chase is well enough to be transferred to jail. His arraignment is set for Tuesday.”

“I’ll be there for that, for sure. Is he talking?”

“Not that I’ve heard.”

After Asa left, Hanna took Gizmo for a walk. She sent off a text to Jared to see how he was.

Good. Work today, off tomorrow. Coffee in the morning? Maybe somewhere with real chairs and a table?

Hanna laughed, feeling a little darkness lift. She did care for Jared, a lot. And she was tired of crying. Laughter was good.

Sure, The Beanery?

He sent a thumbs-up with 9:00 after.

The house was so quiet, and her father’s valise seemed to call out to her. She picked it up and brought it into the living room. Looking inside, there was nothing but the letters and his Bible. Hanna couldn’t bring herself to open any of the letters or look through the Bible. Everything was so raw.

She put everything aside, made dinner, took a nice long bath, and went to bed early.

Jared looked forward to coffee with Hanna more than he could say. The station had been quiet most of the night. They responded to two traffic accidents, nothing major, and he got a good night’s sleep. He got off work on time and headed for The Beanery.

Hanna stayed on his mind all night. More specifically, the hug after he’d come up from the mine shaft. Sure, she was relieved about Nathan. But she sure held on tight. Maybe she still had enough feelings for him.

“Do you love Hanna?”

“I think she loves you.”

Nathan might have been shocky and dopey, but his words were clear.

Jared arrived at the coffee shop first, ordered two cups of coffee, and found a table. He had to wipe his palms, smiling because he was so nervous. When Hanna arrived, he stood, praying that today would be the day they could start a life together—a second chance for him. Maybe a chance he didn’t deserve—a realization of a hope that hadn’t died over the years.

Hanna saw Jared and her heart skipped a beat. He had broken her heart ten years ago; she couldn’t deny it. In spite of that memory, she knew she still loved him. They’d been together too much, grown up together. No matter the years, he was still the guy for her.

She remembered the sentences Joe had written: I took the path God had for me. It seems wrong and sad and hard, but God chose to be with me through it, not take me out of it.

When Jared left that day, so many years ago, Hanna knew, though she didn’t like it, that he had taken the road God had for him.

“Jared.” She stopped at the table, not sure how to proceed.

He solved her dilemma when he stepped forward, taking her in his arms. Hanna buried her head in his shoulder. It felt right. So many years ago, Jared was her best guy. Time hadn’t changed anything but their age.

“Hanna,” he whispered in her ear. “I’m so sorry I left. I never forgot you. I never could.”

His warm breath on her ear gave her goose bumps. She breathed deeply the scent of his aftershave.

After a minute, he pulled back, their eyes met.

“I’m so sorry—” he started to say, and Hanna put her finger on his lips to quiet him.

“Don’t, Jared. You’re back now and we have faith in common now. Don’t apologize. As hard as seeing you leave was ten years ago, I know that it was a journey you had to take.”

He gripped both of her hands in his. “Maybe so, but I can still lament the wasted time. And make up for it. What about Nathan, is he okay?”

“He’s in for a lot of rehab. He knew how I truly felt about you before I admitted it to myself. He’s a good guy.”

“I agree. And us, can we go forward here?”

An inexpressible feeling of joy rippled through Hanna. “I want to. You’ve always been the one for me.”

He smiled, brought her hands to his lips, and kissed her knuckles. “I got you a cup of coffee.” He released her hands.

They sat at the table and Hanna sipped her coffee. After a few minutes, she filled him in on the progress in the investigation.

He shook his head when she told him about Ellen. “Ellen Fargo. I don’t remember the name. I remember the story was she left Chase because he was maimed.”

“There are a lot of stories we’ve always heard that have turned out to be lies.”

“Yeah, sorry about your dad.”

“Me too. But I know that he’s in heaven.”

“Can you clear his name?”

“I don’t know. There is so little evidence. Everett would have to come clean and, in the process, incriminate himself and Big Al.”

“Not likely he’d do that.”

“No, and Chase isn’t talking either.”

“We’ll pray.” Jared reached across the table to grip Hanna’s hand.

“Thanks, Jared.” They bowed their heads and Jared prayed.

“Lord, I pray you lead us the right way, that the truth, which is precious to you, comes out, and Joe’s name is cleared. He wasn’t a perfect man, but no one is. We all need your forgiveness, whether we know it or not. And you are a forgiving God. Amen.”

Hanna looked up and smiled. “Betty said that to me a long time ago. We all need forgiveness, whether we know it or not.”

“Betty has always been a tower of faith. I saw that even when I was dense about things of faith.”

“True. When I was a kid, Betty always helped me understand when things went wrong or life was hard. Her house was a safe space for me.” Thinking about Betty, Hanna remembered her saying, “My house will always be your safe house, Hanna.”

Suddenly it occurred to her that Betty would be a good person to talk to now about Joe, and Chase, and all the history.

“Do you have plans today, Jared?”

He shook his head and smiled. “Only planned to hang out with my girl.”

“I want to go visit Betty. Come along?”

“You bet.”