25. Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Five
Brooklyn Sloane January 2025 Saturday — 9:02 pm
The burst of crystalline shards created by the shattered French door finally settled on the floor. The stillness that followed was only amplified by the echoes of the explosion, and it was as if the silence had its own heartbeat. The minuscule debris and sudden drop in temperature were the only reminders of the destructive event.
With Janet’s attention focused on the fallout of her impulsive reaction, Brook took the opportunity to slip around the corner and into the kitchen. Rather than positioning herself in front of Claudia, Jordan, and Barry, she strategically stood so that the three individuals were out of harm’s way. The risk of Janet responding unpredictably to her surroundings was significant.
“Janet, drop your weapon. Now!” Brook braced herself both mentally and physically to make a snap decision based on a single twitch of Janet’s trigger finger. Fortunately, the explosion of glass had revealed nothing but darkness. Janet’s mind was struggling to piece together the fallout. “Sylvie? Theo?”
“We’re fine,” Sylvie called out as she and Theo finally stepped out of the shadows with their weapons drawn and aimed at their target.
Janet wasn’t sure where to aim her weapon. Panic was beginning to set in, and it was only a matter of time before she chose to do something rash.
“Janet, it’s over. The police are right outside,” Brook informed her, not knowing anything of the kind. “No one else needs to get hurt. I need you to think of your daughter right now.”
“Everything I have done has been for my daughter!” Janet screamed, her features contorted with fear and anguish. “Everything!”
“We were both wrong, Mom,” Claudia whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. “You were wrong for betraying your husband, and I was wrong for wanting another woman’s life. Mara was a good person. She didn’t deserve to die.”
The air in the kitchen grew colder as Brook continued to hold her weapon steady, monitoring Janet's panicked behavior. Soon, she would direct her anger toward the one man who she believed had ruined her daughter’s life. While Jordan played a huge role in the events leading up to this moment, Claudia wasn’t innocent in her choices, either. Her sobs of anguish and regret kept Janet’s attention away from Theo’s approach as he did his best to navigate the broken glass with as little sound as possible.
“Please,” Claudia begged her mother, not oblivious to Theo’s intention. “I need you to listen to me, Mom. Put down the gun.”
The raw emotion in Claudia's plea had Janet’s grip on her gun faltering ever so slightly. It was in that moment of hesitation that Theo took swift action. With the precision of a federal agent’s training, he disarmed Janet and forced her to the ground in one motion.
“Target is down!” Kitsis suddenly bellowed as he and his officers burst through the back and front entrances. “I repeat, target is down!”
“We need a paramedic,” Brook shouted as she lowered her weapon. Barry was now leaning against the double oven next to the counter, his pale features the result of shock more than blood loss. “Barry, let’s get you over to the table. You can sit down and—”
“I’ve got him,” Sylvie said as she appeared on the other side of Barry, giving Brook time to holster her weapon.
Sylvie gently took Barry’s good arm and began to lead him across the room with assurances that he would be fine. One of the officers who had entered through the shattered French door was in the process of cuffing Janet’s hands behind her back. Theo aided the officer in getting the woman to her feet, who wasn’t saying a word as she stared at Claudia with what seemed to be disbelief.
Throughout the chaos, Jordan remained motionless, rooted to the spot like a deer standing in headlights. The evening’s events had rendered him a hollow, empty version of himself. The bitter realization that his carefully curated world had come crashing down around him had yet to set in…or maybe it had.
“You realize that the prosecutor is going to spin this to his advantage, right?” Detective Kitsis said as he came to stand beside her. “I don’t know how, but tomorrow morning’s news will somehow give the press the impression that he was well aware Jordan Miles wasn’t a suspect in his wife’s murder.”
“I know how the system works, Detective Kitsis,” Brook acknowledged, her focus still on Jordan. He had taken two steps back so that he could lean against the counter. She suspected that it was out of necessity more than comfort. “S&E Investigations didn’t take this case for press coverage.”
“Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get it,” Detective Kitsis muttered as an officer escorted Claudia from the room. The signs of shock had finally become apparent. “Simpson, make Miss Hart comfortable in the living room. I’ll be in shortly to get her statement.”
“Detective?” Brook waited to speak further until she had his undivided attention. “Thank you for being open to our assistance. We both know the prosecutor gave you a hard time, though you covered for him to the best of your ability.”
“Shit, are you kidding me?” Detective Kitsis asked wryly, even waving his hand in dismissal. “I’m open to S&E Investigations solving all my cases.”
Brook smiled slightly, acknowledging the compliment. With a subtle gesture, she signaled her desire to speak with Jordan in private. The detective didn’t even notice due to two paramedics entering the kitchen. Brook waited for him to approach them and Barry, who Sylvie had already planted in a chair at the table.
Pulling both sides of her coat together so she could fasten the middle button, she closed the distance to where Jordan leaned against the counter. The bitter gusts of wind were snaking their way through the windowless door, not that he seemed to notice.
“Jordan?”
“Everything...is gone.” Jordan stared ahead, but his gaze wasn’t fixated on anything in particular. “Mara. Our future. The choices that I made—”
Brook remained silent, allowing him to work through his thoughts. There was no erasing his guilt. He would have to live with the fallout of his choices for the rest of his life.
He didn’t speak again until the paramedics led Barry out of the kitchen. Brook had picked up enough of the conversation to know that while the wound was superficial, it would require stitches. They wanted to transport Barry to the hospital for further treatment.
“My choices regarding Claudia were selfish. I…needed someone. Or, at least, I thought I did. I have never been good at being alone. I had no idea that Mara wanted to reconcile. None. She was so adamant about not having children. If she had come to me…”
Brook refrained from passing judgment. He was trying to assign blame, and there was plenty of that to go around. People often overlooked signs from others because doing so would disrupt their own lives. She wasn’t innocent in that regard, either.
“I was so caught up in my obsession with Paul Teal and making amends that I had tunnel vision.”
“We often choose to blind ourselves to the truth, Jordan.” Brook didn’t sugarcoat her response. “You wanted, maybe even needed, the distractions to help you cope with what you thought was the end of your marriage. There are always consequences to our decisions.”
It would take him a while to come to terms with the repercussions of his actions.
Theo stood between the rooms, deep in conversation with one of the officers. Sylvie remained at the kitchen table speaking on the phone to someone, maybe Bit or Arden to give them an update. She would alert Brook if she were needed elsewhere.
“This is the second time you've helped me,” Jordan said, his voice low and tinged with regret. He had used the time he had been given to gather his composure. While he would never be the same, closure for Mara’s murder was a step in the right direction. “Does your team know about—”
“No. I gave you my word, Jordan.” Brook observed Sylvie pull the phone away from her ear. “All they know is that you owe me a favor, and I collect by using your private jet for investigations that need our immediate attention.”
“I guess I shouldn't push my luck a third time,” Jordan muttered as their attention switched to Detective Kitsis. He stood near Theo, but the detective’s focus was solely on Jordan. “That’s my cue.”
“Mr. Miles? Would you please join me in the living room?” Detective Kitsis’ question wasn’t a request. “I’d like to get your statement.”
Jordan straightened, the action pulling him away from the counter. He hadn’t taken three steps before coming to an abrupt stop. He peered down and buttoned his jacket, using the time to formulate his thoughts. Turning slightly, he ensured that he had her full attention.
“Thank you. For all of it,” Jordan added softly, his gaze drawn to Sylvie as she made her way over from the table. “Once again, I’m in your debt.”
Jordan followed Detective Kitsis into the other room, leaving Sylvie to join Brook at the counter. Most all the heat had been sucked out of the kitchen through the shattered window. Forensics would be on site soon to take pictures and collect evidence, though the officer Theo was wrapping up his conversation with had already bagged one of the firearms in question.
“He seems…different.”
“All the money in the world can’t erase the mistakes we make.” Brook took ahold of her scarf and pulled it from underneath the lapel. She then lifted her hair and rested the soft material underneath before tying the two ends together to protect the front of her neck. She slipped her hands into her pockets in hopes of maintaining some body heat. “Jordan has no one. No wife, no lover, and no individuals who he can trust. Mortality is setting in, and he isn’t happy with the direction of his life.”
Brook didn’t reveal that she had undergone the same realization a few years ago. Sylvie had been given a front-row seat to the dramatic change in Brook’s life. Yet she still found herself holding back at times, and she was solely to blame for the hesitation.
Sylvie’s silence garnered Brook’s interest, though.
“You’re lost in thought,” Brook pointed out as she observed Theo bring his conversation to a close. “The house?”
“No,” Sylvie reluctantly admitted as she pulled out a pair of gloves from her coat pocket. “I was thinking of Derek Haze. He lives relatively the same life as Jordan, yet Derek has people who he cares about and vice versa. He never allowed his success or money to interfere with his everyday choices. I guess…I don’t know. I respect him for that, is all.”
There was something in Sylvie’s voice when she spoke of Derek Haze that had Brook believing something more than a basic interview had taken place between them. Sylvie would share specific details when the time was right.
“Boss?”
Theo had just come to stand before Brook and Sylvie when Bit made himself known. Instead of walking through the house, he had chosen the route around the side. Brook parted her lips to tell him to come inside, though it wasn’t any warmer in the kitchen than it was outside, but her words became stuck at the sight of him shifting his weight from side to side.
“Bit?” Sylvie waved him closer, her gaze drawn to the two officers who had just entered the kitchen. “Did we miss something in the investigation?”
“No.” Bit adjusted his hat as he came to a stop near them. “Boss, the federal prosecutor from Jacob’s trial has been trying to reach you for the past half hour.”
Brook had expected Jacob to try something long before this, though she had still held out hope that she could prevent such a daring effort. Had he managed to escape federal prison? Even with all the safeguards that she had put into place? It was fitting that she be informed of such a feat while shivering from the bitter cold.
“Jacob had his lawyer bring a plea deal to the table.”
“I’m sorry?” Brook needed Bit to reiterate his statement. “A plea deal? There is nothing to…”
“The deal is life in prison for murdering Stella Bennett in exchange for the location of another victim. The death penalty would be off the table.”
Sylvie was the first to break the heavy silence.
“The other victim? We need details, Bit.”
“Lusa Kalluk. She went missing in 2014.”
Recognition struck, and Brook curled her fingers into the palms of her hands. She had to swallow back the bile hitting the back of her throat. Fortunately, she didn’t have to speak quite yet.
“Lusa Kalluk?” Theo diverted his shocked stare from Bit to Brook. “Wasn’t she the daughter of Alaska's governor?”
“It’s been Alaska all along, hasn’t it?” Sylvie asked in kind.
Brook had been studying Bit throughout the exchange, and the way he kept adjusting his knit gloves indicated there was more to the proposed deal. She managed to inhale deeply and force her question out in the open.
“What are you withholding, Bit?”
“Jacob won’t give the prosecutor the location.” Bit shifted his weight in unease. “His request includes that he be taken there in person…by you.”
The dark, ominous truth settled over Brook until she could barely breathe.
Somehow, some way, her brother still controlled the narrative. He was pulling their strings, and the former Alaskan governor would allow it with open arms. The man would cave to Jacob’s demands. The former governor would use every ounce of political power he had access to in order to give his family closure.
There was no doubt in Brook’s mind that Jacob had orchestrated the perfect excursion to implement some type of escape. Her brother was a master manipulator. The cruel pleasure he took in tormenting his victims before ending their lives went beyond sadistic. He would seize this opportunity to inflict similar torture on her…of that, she had no doubt.
Unfortunately, the federal prosecutor would agree to such a plea deal. If not, maybe she should step in and make certain an agreement could be reached. An idea began to slowly form, and the possibility of turning the tables on her brother grew long thick roots.
Brook would allow the abhorrent events to unfold. She might fear the horrors that awaited them in the Alaskan wilderness…but this time, she wouldn’t be alone.