Little Stolen Memories: New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author

Chapter 26

“I learned a few more interesting details about Jackson last night when I spoke to Cora,” I said. “It sounds like he had a troubled home life.”

“We know about how he treated Xander,” Hunter said. “Is there something else?”

“He cheated on his final biology exam.”

Hunter snickered a laugh. “A lot of kids cheat on exams.”

“The circumstances surrounding this instance are a bit more complicated. Jackson cheated because if he didn’t pass the exam with a good enough grade, his stepfather threatened to withhold the college money his mother had set aside for him.”

I shared the story Cora had told me, including the fallout afterward.

“If Jackson’s mother set aside money for his education, it should have been up to her whether or not Jackson was given the money,” Hunter said. “Why did the stepdad get involved?”

“Trust me,” Simone said. “You’d know if you met him. The stepdad’s a real piece of work.”

“Tell us about your visit with him,” I said.

Simone raised a finger. “I will, but first, I need coffee. Anyone else?”

“I … ahh, I need to get going,” Hunter said. “My sister’s in town. We’re meeting for lunch. I’ll be back later. In the meantime, text me if you need me to do anything for you, Georgiana, okay?”

“There is one thing. Look into Jackson’s stepdad. See what you can find out about him.”

“Will do.”

Simone headed to the kitchen to try out the fancy Breville coffeemaker I’d just purchased for the office. She had a habit of stopping for coffee on her way into the office each morning, which almost always made her late on the days when I scheduled a meeting between us. In a way, buying a machine for the office was serving my own agenda, but it also came with its perks.

Simone and I reconvened on the sectional sofa a few minutes later, fresh-brewed coffees in hand.

“Jackson’s stepfather, Ray, had nothing nice to say about him,” Simone said. “The way he talked about Jackson was almost like he was glad Jackson was dead.”

“And his mother?” I asked. “What did she have to say?”

“Her name is Valerie. She was quiet, didn’t say much of anything the entire time I was there. Ray did most of the talking.”

“Tell me about your conversation.”

Simone took a sip of her coffee and set her mug down on a coaster on the side table. “It wasn’t a long visit, so I may as well start at the beginning and take you through it. Ray answered the door before I even had a chance to knock.”

“What’s he like?”

“Sharp dresser. He was wearing a gray tailored suit. It looked expensive.”

“How would you describe his physical appearance?”

“He’s muscular. Looks like he works out a fair bit.”

“How tall is he?”

“Just over six feet, I’d guess.”

“What does he do for work?” I asked. “Is he still working in the family business?”

“He is, and this is where it gets interesting. He’s the COO of their high-end car dealership. The dealership was opened by Valerie’s father, who had planned on leaving it to Jackson after he retired. When Jackson died, the business was left to Valerie … though, based on Ray’s overbearing personality, I get the impression he’s the one running the show.”

I didn’t even need to meet the guy to know his type—possessive, greedy, arrogant, entitled.

“After Ray greeted you at the door, what happened?” I asked.

“I gave him my name, told him what I do, and I explained I was there because we’re taking another look at the case.”

“How did Ray react to the news that it’s being investigated again?” I asked.

“He seemed confused at first. It took him a minute to grasp what I’d said. I let him know I had a few questions, and I assured him they were nothing major. For a minute, I thought he was going to refuse to speak to me, so I mentioned we were talking to all the families. I thought adding that little tidbit would compel him to be more of a team player.”

“Did it work? Did he agree to talk to you?”

“Under certain conditions. Before I was allowed to step foot inside the house, Ray said he didn’t want me to say anything that might upset his wife, which is … as you know, an impossible request. I was there to talk about the murders. No matter how you spin it, it’s a heavy subject.”

“I’m sure you found a way.”

Simone shot me a wink. “We say what we need to say and do what we need to get through the door, right?”

“Right.”

“I’m assuming you talked your way inside,” I said. “Then what?”

“Ray made a comment about not wanting us to talk inside the house because it was a bit of a mess, which was weird because what I saw of it was immaculate. Everything in its place.”

Some people didn’t like the idea of a stranger in their home, among their personal things, in their personal space. Other people didn’t welcome visitors inside because there was something they were trying to hide.

Which one was Ray?

Neither, or a bit of both?

“I followed him to the back yard, and he told me to take a seat at a patio table,” Simone said. “He left me for a few minutes and returned with Valerie. She was wearing a large pair of sunglasses, which made sense. It was sunny out yesterday. But she was dressed in a pair of sweatpants and an oversized sweater. I was sweating in the thin T-shirt I had on.”

“Did she acknowledge you in any way?”

“She said hello. It was so faint, I almost didn’t hear it. After she sat down, she kept tugging at the collar of her sweater, pulling it up like she was trying to cover her neck.” Simone crossed her arms and added, “How do I put this … she reminded me of a frightened little mouse. She seemed nervous and avoidant.”

A woman trapped like a prisoner in her own home, perhaps.

In the time Simone described the beginning of her visit, several things she’d said stood out to me:

Ray didn’t want Simone inside the house.

Why?

Valerie was going out of her way to cover herself up.

Why?

I thought about the bruises Aubree told Cora she’d seen on Jackson’s shoulder and back.

Had he been abused by Ray?

If so, had Valerie also suffered from abuse, and was she being abused now?

My mind was teeming with various possibilities.

Perhaps Ray hadn’t wanted Simone in the house because he worried she’d see signs of his violent behavior. I imagined photos strategically placed on the wall, photos that covered up the places where Ray had used his fist to take out his aggression.

My mind wandered even further.

Was Valerie wearing sunglasses because it was sunny out? Or were the sunglasses in place to conceal a shiner, and the clothes covering almost every inch of her body to hide bruises, signs she was a battered woman.

“Georgiana, are you listening to me?” Simone asked.

Hearing my name snapped me back into reality.

“Sorry, I got a bit fixated on your description of Valerie,” I said. “Keep going. I won’t lose focus again.”

“I was saying we talked about basic stuff at first. I figured it would be easier to talk about the heavier stuff if I tried to get to know them and what their life has been like over the last twenty years. That’s how I learned about the car dealership and Ray’s role in the company. In his words, he said the last twenty years have been the best of his life.”

“Did you believe him?”

“I believe they may have been the best years of his life, but I doubt it’s been the same for her. Jackson was an only child. He was two years old when his parents divorced. Ray and Valerie met about ten years later, and they’ve been together ever since.”

That would make Jackson twelve years old when Ray entered their lives, and no doubt changed the course of it forever.

“Once you got the initial conversation out of the way, were you able to talk about the investigation?” I asked.

Simone reached for her coffee. “For a few minutes. I asked if they had an opinion about the person responsible for the cabin murders.”

“And what did they say?”

“Ray wasted no time throwing Xander’s name out, saying he always thought he was to blame. He said the whole town knew Xander was a suspect. There were rumors swirling around town about Xander and how he’d been teased at school by some of the boys on the football team.”

“I wonder if they knew about Xander being tied to the tree?”

“If they did, they didn’t mention it. They knew about the prank calls some of the girls in school had been receiving.”

It was possible what had happened to Xander in the park wasn’t public knowledge. He’d downplayed it after it happened, making me wonder if the police had also decided to keep it quiet. It made sense. Had everyone in town known about the incident, I had no doubt they would have pushed for Xander to be blamed for the murders whether he had an alibi or not.

“Is there anything else I should know about your visit?” I asked.

Simone gave the question some thought. “I asked if there were any details they may have forgotten to mention during the initial investigation. Ray said no.”

“You said Ray did most of the talking. Did Valerie say anything?”

“I was just about to tell you … toward the end of the conversation, Valerie asked Ray to get her a glass of water. He was reluctant. I could tell he didn’t want to leave her side, but he did. As soon as he was out of sight, I slipped her our business card and told her to call us any time, for any reason. She thanked me.”

“Did she say anything else?”

“She said she loved her son, and that she missed him. She started to say something else, but before she could get the words out, Ray was back with her glass of water. Got himself one too. Nothing for me, though. Jerk.”

“He didn’t offer you anything because it would have given you a reason to stay longer. Going off of what you said about him, I bet he wanted you out of there.”

“I thought the same thing. As soon as he handed her the water, he said they had some errands to run. I was in and out in less than twenty minutes.”

Simone’s short visit deserved a followup, one I planned on doing myself. Even if it didn’t further the case, I was concerned about Valerie’s odd behavior. I wanted to get her alone and see what she might say when Ray wasn’t around.

“I’d like their address,” I said.

“Why? You thinking about stopping by?”

“It crossed my mind.”

Simone reached for her phone, pressed a few buttons, and said, “I just sent it to you. Oh, and there’s one more thing I want to add. After I left their house, I started thinking about Valerie’s father. I wondered if he was still alive.”

“Is he?”

Simone nodded and said, “I had Hunter do a search for him. It was easy because it turns out the house Ray and Valerie are living in is owned by him. His name is Hugo, and he lives in a retirement community in San Luis Obispo. He was sharp as a whip when I spoke to him.”

“What did you talk about?”

“I told him I’d just been to see Ray and Valerie to talk to them about the investigation. He told me he doesn’t have much contact with his daughter.”

“Did he say why?”

“Hugo didn’t give me much in the way of details, except to say the fallout between him and Valerie was Ray’s doing. He mentioned something about Ray driving a wedge between them. He said he missed his daughter, and he worried the car dealership wasn’t being run by her like they had discussed when she took it over. He said if he was younger, he wouldn’t allow it, but he feels he’s too old and too tired to deal with the stress of it now.”

With Jackson dead, and Hugo pushed to the side, Ray had swooped in, taking over the company and lining his pockets along the way. Greed was a good motive for murder, but was it enough of a motive for a mass murder?

On the one hand, it didn’t seem realistic.

On the other, there were certain types of people who would do anything to get ahead—including getting rid of anyone who stood in their way to get there.