Chapter Ten #2
“I’m not sure. What about other visitors?” Judson pressed. “I’m specifically looking at other parents who might have lost custody of their kids and were taken into care by CPS.”
“Well, I wouldn’t have that info, but I can send you a list of names of her visitors. Would that help?” Sanchez asked.
“It would. Text it to my phone, and I’ll share it with my boss, Sheriff Granger.
We can dig through the names and see if anything pops.
” Judson paused. “By the way, for what it’s worth, Rowena isn’t being a model citizen now that she’s out,” he explained.
“She’s refused to give the cops vital information about Yvette unless she speaks to the woman she abducted as a child. It’s down and dirty blackmail.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” And the man sounded genuine. “I can call and speak to her if you think that’ll help.”
Judson seemed to consider that and then said, “No, but thanks for the offer. I’ll be in touch if I end up filing charges against her. Then, you can decide if you want to try to revoke her release.”
The warden thanked him, and Judson ended the call. With the silence filling the cab of the cruiser, there was nothing to interfere with her thinking, and dreading, this face-to-face. Addie wouldn’t change her mind, but she could feel the tension building, building…
And then it stopped when Judson took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. That was all it took to settle some of her raw nerves. All it took to lower that barrier between them another notch.
“Just think about the babies,” Judson said, his voice oh so calm. “Think about holding them, feeding them.” He paused. “Think about how many times they’ll wake us up tonight.” He grinned at her.
The moment seemed way too light, considering everything that was going on. But it also seemed intimate. And it was. After all, they might be sharing a bedroom again, and the intimacy between them was building, too.
It’d been years since they’d been lovers. A lifetime ago. Yet, all those memories came flooding back to her now. Of the hot kisses on the seat of his pickup truck. The touching. The need. So much need.
The making out had escalated until they’d finally done the deed. And repeated it throughout the summer right before he’d left for the military and she had left for college.
Sometimes, like now, she wondered what would have happened if they’d both stayed in Renegade Canyon. Would they have ditched the pact they’d made and hooked up for good?
Maybe.
And that’s what Addie decided to focus on. That and her future with the babies. She let herself sink right into the images and stayed there until Judson drove into San Antonio and to the Serenity Springs Care Facility.
“It doesn’t look like a prison,” Addie remarked when she eyed the two-story redbrick building with the white columns. “Or a hospital.”
It looked more like someone’s home. An expensive one. And it seemed way too luxurious to house a killer.
Judson pulled to a stop in one the visitors’ spots, and Livvy parked right next to him. He didn’t get out. He turned in the seat to look Addie straight in the eyes.
“I’m not changing my mind,” she let him know.
“I figured as much. I was going to say, don’t let her get to you. Keep the conversation on Yvette and the present. Don’t let Rowena drag you into the past.”
It was good advice. Easier said than done, but still good, and that’s why she leaned in and brushed her mouth over his. For the advice and because she knew, like his touch, the kiss would soothe her.
And it did.
It aroused her, too, but Addie figured she could embrace the heat while they made their way out of the cruiser and inside.
With Livvy right behind him, they stepped into the facility, and while the foyer didn’t look much like a hospital, either, it smelled like one. That antiseptic smell seemed to coat everything from the high plastered ceilings to the marble floors.
Judson immediately went to the reception desk to deal with the woman in pale blue scrubs who certainly wasn’t welcoming them. In fact, she seemed ready to send them on their way. Judson showed her his badge, followed by a murmured conversation.
The woman gave Addie a long look before she called someone, and she continued to scrutinize both Livvy and Judson while she spoke to whoever she’d called. Probably the director. Heck, maybe even Rowena.
After she ended the conversation, she typed in something on her laptop and used her phone to take a photo of Judson’s badge. She also had him sign something before she finally stood.
“This way,” she said. “The patient has agreed to see you.”
Yes, Addie would bet Rowena had, and she was probably fist pumping in triumph at getting her way. The thought of that disgusted Addie even more.
The receptionist led them down a long hall and stopped outside a room across from a nurses’ station. The nurse manning it was on the phone, and he barely spared them a glance before they went inside.
Definitely a hospital room.
Not just the scent but the bed and the equipment that surrounded it.
And in that bed sat Rowena, looking considerably older than the last time Addie had seen her.
Looking considerably older than her age, too.
It was obvious the cancer had taken a toll on her, as her face was very thin.
Her head was wrapped in a bandanna that had been fashioned into a cap.
“Addie,” Rowena said, her voice a hoarse rattle. She lifted her hand and motioned for Addie to come closer.
She didn’t.
Addie stayed put, and she didn’t even attempt to soften her glare of disgust. That disgust went up a notch when she spotted the photo of herself on the nightstand.
Definitely not one that Addie had given her, but rather one that had been printed out from an online newspaper article that had been done about the Horseshoe Ranch when Addie had taken over running it.
“Deputy Judson Docherty,” he said, breaking the cold silence that had settled in the room.
He hitched his thumb to Livvy. “Deputy Walsh. Now, start talking, Rowena,” he added.
Judson certainly wasn’t toning down his venom, either.
“Babies are at risk, and I don’t want to waste a second with these sick mind games you’re playing. ”
Rowena finally tore her stare from Addie and shifted to Judson while she shook her head. “No mind games. I needed to see my… Addie.”
Even though the woman hadn’t said the d-word, daughter, Addie knew she was thinking it. And that upped Addie’s anger even more.
“I needed to say I’m sorry,” Rowena went on, shifting her attention back to Addie. “I’m so very sorry for taking you, and while I don’t expect your forgiveness—”
“Good,” Addie snapped. “Now, tell us about Yvette so we can get the heck out of here.”
Rowena sighed, and for a moment Addie thought the woman was going to keep the conversation on the past. But she didn’t.
“I had no part in taking those twin baby girls,” Rowena finally said. “I want you to know that up front. And I had no idea that Yvette would do it, either.”
Judson put his hands on his hips and aimed narrowed eyes at Rowena. “You’d better tell us a hell of a lot more than that, or I’ll be filing charges against you. I’ve already spoken to the warden, and he’s considering revoking your release.”
That put some alarm in Rowena’s eyes, and she gave a shaky nod. “There’s more. I just wanted you to understand that I didn’t know what Yvette was going to do. If I had, I would have tried to talk her out of it.”
Judson made a circling motion with his finger for Rowena to continue when she fell silent.
“Yvette started visiting me years ago,” she went on.
“She was furious that her kids had been taken from her, and she blames CPS and anyone connected with the Horseshoe Ranch.” When her voice cracked, she reached for a container of water and had a few sips.
“Recently, Yvette was worried that someone had been drugging her.”
“Who?” Judson demanded.
“She didn’t know, but she thought it might be Trevor. Or Jennifer’s boyfriend, Elijah.”
That got Addie’s attention, and while she didn’t go closer, she was very interested in this part of the conversation.
“Yvette thought Trevor or Elijah might be trying to kill her so they could get their hands on her money,” Rowena added.
“Did she have any proof?” Judson pressed.
Rowena shook her head and sighed. “And I’m not sure it was actually happening. Yvette seemed to be having some kind of breakdown. I think maybe because of the rift between Jennifer and her. She loves her daughter very much, and it was tearing her apart that Jennifer was being so hostile.”
Addie kept up the glare and intensified it when Rowena looked at her. The woman was clearly applying Yvette’s situation to her own.
Or trying to, anyway.
Addie wanted to blurt out a reminder that Rowena was a killer and a child abductor and deserved hostility, but she didn’t want to give this woman anything. Not her words, not her anger. Not her attention. And that’s why Addie shifted her gaze to a spot on the floor. No more eye contact.
“Is that it?” Judson asked. “Did you drag us all the way out here for that?”
“There’s more,” Rowena was quick to say. “Shane also believes Trevor could have been drugging his mother. If he was, then maybe Trevor used the drugs to manipulate Yvette into taking those babies.”
“Wait,” Judson said. “You’ve talked to Shane, or is this hearsay from Yvette?” Addie definitely wanted to know the same thing.
“Not hearsay,” Rowena insisted. “I’ve spoken with Shane plenty of times. At first, Yvette brought him with her when she visited me in prison. Then, later, Shane started coming alone.”
Addie didn’t like the sound of that. What would Shane have wanted with a convicted killer? It certainly wouldn’t have been just to accompany his mother, since he’d done solo visits, too.
So, what had Shane been doing there?
Unfortunately, Addie could think of a reason.
If Shane was angry about being placed into foster care, then he could have been thinking it was time for payback, against CPS and the Horseshoe.
It chilled Addie to the bone to consider that was why Courtney had been murdered and the twins had been taken.
Yvette and Shane could have come up with this sinister plan together.
But did Rowena play into that plan in any kind of way?
“I’m guessing Shane didn’t have any proof that Trevor or Elijah was drugging Yvette?” Judson asked.
“No,” Rowena replied. “But Shane despises both men and thinks they’re after his mother’s money. He said his mom and sister were weak and naive for getting involved with the likes of those two. He was also worried that Jennifer might try to get back at Yvette for the miscarriage.”
“What miscarriage?” Judson snapped.
“Jennifer’s.” She paused. “You didn’t know,” she muttered. “Jennifer had a miscarriage last month, and she told Yvette that she believed the stress caused it. Stress her mother caused by being with Trevor.”
Addie had no idea if that kind of anxiety could cause a woman to miscarry, but if Jennifer had believed that, it might be motive for her to get back at Yvette in some way. But there were a lot simpler ways to do that than threatening to kidnap the twins and spurring Yvette to try to “rescue” them.
“The last time Shane and I spoke,” Rowena went on, “he was trying to convince Yvette to cut Trevor and Jennifer out of her will. He thought if Jennifer couldn’t inherit, then there’d be no threat to Yvette from Elijah.”
Addie considered that, and she could see Shane’s point. That would eliminate possible threats if the two were indeed trying to get Yvette’s money. But Shane could have also wanted Yvette to cut them out of the will so he could inherit it all.
“Any ideas where would Yvette be hiding out right now?” Judson asked.
“She usually just talked about her children and husband, but she did mention a fishing cabin that Trevor owns.”
That was the place where Trevor had claimed to be during the twins’ abduction. Addie knew from the updates she’d read that the cabin had already been searched, and there’d been no sign of Yvette.
“Anywhere else?” Judson asked when once again the woman fell silent.
“No. I’m sorry. Like I said, Yvette kept the conversation on her kids and what she’d gone through with CPS. I can’t imagine she’d go anywhere without telling Shane, though. Yvette seemed very devoted to him.”
Well, if Yvette had told Shane, he wasn’t volunteering the info. Hopefully, though, that might change since both Jennifer and Shane could still be in interviews at the police station in Renegade Canyon.
“Is that it?” Judson asked. “You’ve got nothing else to tell us about Yvette or her husband and kids?”
More silence followed. “Nothing more about Yvette and Shane,” Rowena finally said. “But I want to talk to Addie. Just give me five minutes so I can say my piece,” she added in a plea.
That snapped Addie out of her thoughts about the investigation and gave her a cold, hard reminder of where she was. The anger came. Mercy, did it, and she had to clench her fists to stop herself from storming across the room and ripping up that photo of her.
But even that would be giving Rowena the attention that Addie didn’t want her to have. In fact, she wanted to give this woman exactly what she deserved.
Which was nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Without even sparing Rowena a glance, Addie turned and walked out.