Chapter 18 Shawn #2
I take a deep breath. This is going to be a long day. “Would you like coffee?” I offer, trying to keep the mood as light as I can.
“Sure. Thanks.”
Breakfast abandoned, I set my weapon within reach then put the eggs, cheese, and veggies back inside the fridge, then pour three mugs of coffee. In Beckett’s, I add cream, honey, and a dash of cinnamon—just how I saw her make it yesterday.
“Cream?” I ask Lauren.
“Yeah. Thanks.” She sets her bag down near the door and remains right there, staring at Beckett.
The two women face off, and I wonder if Beckett is seeing Paul when she looks at his daughter. “She has his eyes.”
“Here.” I offer Lauren her cup, then retrieve my weapon and take Beckett’s to her. Together, we move toward the kitchen table, and Lauren finally moves farther into the house, taking a seat opposite Beckett.
“You planning to shoot me, cop?” she snaps, glaring at the weapon then at me.
“Not unless you give me a reason to believe you’re a threat,” I reply.
She chews on the inside of her cheek, then crosses her arms. “I handled yesterday poorly. I was caught off guard and didn’t treat you as I should have.”
Beckett crosses her arms. “You weren’t the only one caught off guard. At least, you knew I existed.”
Lauren purses her lips as she nods. “You’re right.
” She shifts her attention from staring down at the mug to Beckett.
“My dad talked about you a lot, and I always wanted to meet you. I just didn’t understand why you didn’t want to meet me, too.
” The pain is evident as she bites down on her bottom lip and redirects her gaze.
“He told you that I didn’t want to meet you?”
“Not in so many words. But after my mom passed, I begged him to let me come live with you guys. My grandmother was great, but honestly, she was never happy my mom had me.”
Beckett’s expression softens a bit. “For the record, I would have loved to have met you. What happened between him and your mother was before I came into the picture, and I never would have held that against him.”
Lauren nods, and I see the acceptance on her face. “I shouldn’t have said what I did about the baby. He did tell me about that, but not in the same context I used when I threw it back in your face.”
Beckett’s expression turns stormy, but she doesn’t respond right away. “Is that why you’re here? To apologize?” she finally asks.
“Partly. I got fired last night. Apparently, Lucian knew who I was and put two and two together that I’m the reason you were there.”
“You’re lucky he only fired you,” I comment.
“True. Just like you both are lucky to be alive, too.”
“We know that,” Beckett says.
“So, what’s the other reason you’re here?” I ask her.
“I want to know who killed my dad,” she replies. “I want closure. Justice. A place to put all of this anger in my heart.” She closes her eyes. “I can’t put it behind me until I know.”
“Is that why you sent me that photograph?” Beckett asks.
“I’ve been reading the articles written about you.
I saw that you were mentioned in working alongside a team of search and rescue guys out of Texas, and I thought you’d go straight to them for help.
” She offers me a pointed look. “If I’d known you’d show up in the lion’s den personally, I wouldn’t have sent it. ”
“But you did,” Beckett replies. “And we got nothing. Except for the fact that Lucian claims he had nothing to do with Paul—your father’s death,” she corrects quickly.
Lauren nods. “I suspected him at first, but I think it was someone who wanted to get back at Lucian. I think Dad got caught in the middle.”
Dad. Hurt flashes over Beckett’s face. Will she pull away if I reach for her? Since I’m not sure I want to find out, I resist the urge.
“What did he do for Lucian?” Beckett asks. “I’m assuming you know what kind of man you were both working for?”
“Dad was a good man,” Lauren snaps. “Whatever he did—it wasn’t anything terrible. Like I told you before, he even took me with him a couple of times.”
“That doesn’t mean he wasn’t hiding something,” I say.
Lauren glares at me.
“Look, I’m a cop and the only one not biased in this case. I can appreciate that you want to see him as a good guy, and I hope he was, but the goal here is to find the truth. Not tell you what you want to know.”
She takes a deep breath. “Fine.” After taking a drink from her coffee, she slips both hands into her lap. “So, what is the next step?”
“Next step? What makes you think I want to know anything else? I told you yesterday, I’m done.”
Lauren stares at Beckett in shock. “Are you serious?”
“Look, not only did I lose my husband, but in the last couple of days, I’ve learned that he has ties to a known criminal like Lucian, was lying to me about where he was going, and hid you from me for two years. Why do I want to know more?”
I open my mouth to argue. To point out that she deserves to know the truth just as much as—if not more than—he deserves justice for what happened to him. But since I sense I’ll be stepping into the middle of an argument that I don’t need to be in, I keep my mouth shut.
For now.
“Wow. Dad said you were a lot of things, but a coward wasn’t one of them.”
“Out of line,” I snarl, anger surging through me. But when I shift my attention to Beckett and see the start of a smile on her face, it dies.
“Coward?” She shakes her head. “You’re hot-headed just like he was.”
“I’m calling it like I see it. I don’t have anywhere else to go. If you don’t help me, the truth is going to die with him. Whoever did this will get away with it. And you might be okay with that, but I’m not.”
Beckett takes a deep breath. “I’ll help. But like Shawn said, I won’t hide from the truth. No matter how badly it hurts.”
Lauren nods. “Same. I can handle it. No matter what it looks like.”
The two women stare at each other for a moment before Beckett clears her throat. “What do you know?”
“Not much more than you do. He worked with Lucian for the last three years of his life. They were close enough that Lucian would invite Paul to stay in the clubhouse rather than in the small overnight apartment offered to other pilots. Aside from that, and the photograph, I have nothing.”
“It’s Lucian in that picture?” I clarify.
She nods. “Do you guys have anything more?”
“We know that he was filing false flight logs,” I reply. “Since you were with him, maybe you can clarify a few of them?”
“Dates might be a little foggy, but I can try.”
“Just locations. I can piece the dates together if I need to. Besides Seattle and Boston, where did you go?”
“We went all over the place.” Lauren seems surprised we only mentioned Boston and Seattle.
Beckett leans forward. “What do you mean all over the place?”
“Well, we’d fly out of Boston, but I went with him to California, Oklahoma, Montana, New Mexico—all over the place.”
“Doing what?” I ask.
“Mostly flying people,” she replies. “They’d pay Dad to fly them places.”
I look from her to Beckett and note the paleness in her expression.
“No, he wasn’t trafficking,” Lauren adds quickly, likely sensing where our thoughts went. “Everyone he flew was a businessman. Sometimes their employees or family members, but everyone wanted to be there.”
That she knows of.
Still, I do find it hard to believe he’d take his daughter with him while trafficking people. That is cold, even for a potential criminal.
“I need some air.” Beckett gets to her feet. “Where are you staying?”
“The Motel 6 down the road,” she says. “I was living on-site at the airfield, and since I was fired—”
“You can stay here,” I say quickly. It’s only after the offer leaves my lips that I realize I should have checked with Beckett first. All I see is a young woman in way over her head, no longer shielded by Lucian’s web of protection.
What if whoever went after Beckett comes after her next?
“Thanks, but I’m good.”
“You really should stay here,” Beckett says softly. “Someone attacked me in my hotel room because I was looking into this. If they catch wind you are, too, you’ll be in danger.”
“I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time.” She stands.
“Please stay. Paul would have wanted you safe, and I do, too.” With a pain-filled smile, Beckett steps out onto the back porch, leaving me and Lauren alone in the house.
“My dad was wrong about her.”
I turn toward her.
“My dad always talked about how beautiful she was, but he always made her sound so cold. Like she would be appalled if she found out I existed.” She swallows hard, and her gaze meets mine. “The more I find out, the more I realize I didn’t really know him either.”
“We’re going to find the truth. But Beckett is right about the danger. I have a third bedroom. It’s a futon since it also doubles as my office, but it’s there if you want it.”
She nods. “I’ll take it.”
“Good. I’m going to check on Beckett, but it’s down the hall, second door on the right.” Since I have nothing super important to worry about inside the house, I don’t bother to hover and make sure she doesn’t get into anything.
Instead, I shift my attention to the woman who has quickly become one of the most important people in the entire world to me.