The Past Life of Jane Scott (A Wild Cove Mystery Book 4) Read online

  “Gloating, Agent Ross?” says Jane. “I didn't think that was your style.”

  Agent Ross raises an eyebrow. “On the contrary, I just wanted you to know that in the short time I've been here in Wild Cove... Even though we haven't gotten along a lot of the time...”

  Jane laughs. “My word, Agent Ross. Are you being nice to me?”

  The agent reaches out his hand. “I just wanted to say that I think you're a great cop. I'm sure any investigation will prove that.”

  Jane is shocked, but also a little suspicious. Agent Ross has always been pushing against the sheriff's department, treating it as though each of its members are part of the people trafficking ring he believes to be in operation nearby. It hasn't occurred to Jane that he might actually respect her.

  Unsure whether he is playing out a strategy or not to lull her into a false sense of security, she nonetheless feels that she should shake his hand. After all, she might not like the way he handles things, but Ross always seems to be above corruption. That is something, at least.

  They shake hands and, as they do, Romain walks out of the sheriff's office. He, seeing the two of them shaking hands and talking, grows red in the face, and then disappears down another hallway, furious. Jane then leaves the office immediately, not wanting to draw attention to her suspension. When she is ready to leave for good, she'll say her goodbyes to Deputy Morris and the other staff, letting them know how much they mean to her. At least the ones who aren't still angry at her for arresting Sheriff Williams.

  It’s now evening, and Jane has fallen into a deep depression. As the sun begins to set around 7pm, she sits on the porch of her old farmhouse, opens a second bottle of wine, and doesn't care that she will have a hangover in the morning. For years she has successfully avoided drinking, but this is now all too much for her to take in. The hills and fields around her home are her only company, for now.

  Stuck in Wild Cove; that is something she was hoping to avoid. Now, she can't go anywhere. If she does, they'll just drag her back for the investigation. Until this whole sorry mess is cleared up she is a prisoner, so-to-speak, of the town she only truly wanted to protect.

  As disappointment washes over her, she watches in disbelief as a red dot appears on the horizon. It is moving way too fast along the country road which leads to the farmhouse. As the red dot grows in size, accompanied by a roaring engine, Jane thinks about moving inside to avoid it, perhaps even pretending not to be home. But part of her longs to see the person inside that rusted red car. No one else in town has a 1969 red Ford Capri. Jack has spent the last several months restoring it, and now it seems to be up and running, though still with a few scrapes and blemishes to the paintwork and some rust around one headlight. Jack thinks that gives it character.

  The car pulls up directly in front of Jane as her heart races. She hasn't seen Jack since she arrested him after punching Charles Hendry. Now knowing what Charles Hendry was capable of, she would quite happily have struck him herself at the time had she known.

  The driver's door opens and Jack emerges, dressed suspiciously well. He’s wearing a dark blue shirt and a gray tweed suit jacket, but he still can't quite bring himself to not wear dark blue jeans, albeit dressier ones than usual. His dark hair is unusually well groomed, and he is wearing a pair of brown brogue boots that have been neatly polished to a sheen.

  Jane tries to calm herself, but current events have loosened her sarcastic lips. “Dressing up for Martina, are we?”

  Stepping to the wooden stairs at the front of the house and then walking up onto the porch, Jack is wearing a concerned look on his face. “Do you think Martina is the reason I haven't spoken to you?”

  Shrugging, Jane replies, “I just can't believe your parents were right. That I was just a fling on the road back to your dear sweet Martina.”

  “Jane...” But he does not have a chance to continue.

  “No, it's fine,” she says, standing up forcefully. “You'll be glad to know that I've given up on this town. I'll be gone and out of your hair... Which, by the way, you've covered in way too much hair gel.”

  Jack can't help but laugh at that last comment.

  “I'm glad you think this is funny! Please, just leave!”

  “The reason I haven't spoken to you, Jane, is because of you frolicking around with Charles Hendry and then arresting me.”

  “You punched him in the face, repeatedly.”

  “Yes...” says Jack, “but he was a murderer.”

  Jane shakes her head in disbelief. “You didn't know that at the time, and in any case, I wasn't frolicking. He kissed me on the cheek; it wasn't like we slept together!”

  Sighing, Jack sits down on one of the porch seats Jane keeps out for guests. “Look, we've both made mistakes.”

  “Is Martina one of them?”

  “No! I mean... Yes, my mom and dad were idiots to you that night at Stefano's. Yes, I should have defended you, but I just wanted to smooth things over with them first. Yes, they want me to get back with Martina. No, I'm not going to. And yes... I do love you.”

  Jane’s stunned to hear those words. They have never actually admitted their love to each other before, and whether the sentiment has softened her heart or just dazed her, she sits down as if to catch her breath. “I didn't ask you if you loved me...”

  Jack turns to Jane, sincerity in his eyes. “But I do, Jane... These last couple of weeks without you have made that clear.”

  “Jack... I called to make up with you, but Martina answered, and...”

  “Martina is my ex. Unfortunately, she's also still my accountant. That's the reason I never told you about her; because I knew it would make you uncomfortable that I still saw her occasionally, and I didn't want to ruin what we have... had. She was working on some files for me when you called and I was out.”

  With her mind in a spin, Jane doesn't know whether to kiss Jack or ask him to leave so she can think things over. Either way, she knows she loves him too, though she isn't sure about saying it in return. “Jack, I am leaving Wild Cove...”

  “But we can fix this.” Jack takes Jane's hand and looks into her eyes as the vast expanse of pleasant fields, which surround the house, look on as if listening for an answer.

  “Jack, I do want to be with you, but I don't want to put you or anyone else I care about in danger.”

  “What are you talking about?” Jack looks at Jane and sees the worry in her eyes; he now moves closer to her, reaching up and caressing her face. “Whatever is going on, I'll be there with you.”

  Right now, Jane wants to lean in and kiss Jack. She wants to, but she doesn't. Instead she pulls away, stands up, and then looks out to the dimming landscape around her, the world growing dark blue-gray as the sun disappears. “Do you remember that trouble in Willow County you were always asking me about?”

  “Yes. You never would tell me everything that happened.”

  “It's come back to haunt me, and I'm not sure I'm going to make it out alive this time. And I've been suspended because of the radio broadcast Bill Carpenter made, I'm sure you heard about it,” Jane breaks down, burying her head in her hands.

  “Yes,” Jack whispers. Instinctively, he moves to her and puts his arms around her. When he does that, she nestles her head into the comfort of his shoulder and sobs. A moment passes and then she finally regains composure.

  Gently touching Jane's chin, Jack moves her gaze to his, then kisses her passionately on the lips.

  Melting in the moment, Jane returns the kiss and then forcefully pulls away once more. “You'll get hurt...”

  “I can take it...”

  “I can't take you getting hurt...” says Jane.

  “Tell me about Willow County, and I'm sure in the cold light of day, whatever it is won't seem so bad.”

  Jane has told Jack a few of the details before but it isn't something she likes to go over, and so she has never shared everything about Willow County. She had put that far behind her, but with the death of Bill Carpenter th
at past has caught up with her, showing its true malevolence. “Back in Willow County, before I came here, I was a patrol officer. I loved my job, and although my beat was in a rough part of Elway City, I loved the people there. From day one, I felt a connection to them. You know... I was brought up poor. We had nothing. Many of the families on my beat had very little as well, and it felt like fate for me to be back there helping and protecting people who were cut from the same cloth as me.

  “I had a partner. His name was Stewart O'Hara. He had been a beat cop there for ten years before I arrived. I always liked him because he wasn't too rough or judgmental with the people in the area, unlike some of the others at our station unfortunately were. A number of times I saw him go out of his way, bending the rules to make sure a family was looked after. He was the last person in the world I expected to be corrupt...”

  “He was on the take?” asks Jack, leaning over and flicking the porch light on so that he can still see Jane's face in the oncoming darkness.

  “One day...” Jane continues, her voice quiet as though she is afraid that the hills are listening. “One day, we responded to a call in the area. A local restaurant owner had asked a group of young men to pay for their food. They responded by dragging him out into a secluded alley at the back of the restaurant. They held a knife to his throat.

  “When we arrived Stewart broke the fight up, but when the restaurant owner told him he wanted to file charges against his attackers, I saw a change come over my partner. He stared into the face of the restaurant owner and told him to get back into his restaurant and forget that this had ever happened. If he didn't, Stewart would have him shut down for a health and safety violation.

  “The restaurant owner returned inside, bloodied and deflated, and Stewart turned to me and asked me to go back to the patrol car while he 'took care of this'. I was a young cop... I didn't know better... I did as he asked, but I had a growing fear in the pit of my stomach that something was very wrong. Instead of leaving completely, I hid around the corner and listened.”

  “And what did Stewart say to the men?” inquires Jack.

  “He let them get away with it. He said something about the gang – and they were a gang, I could tell by the unusual dark blue sword tattoos each of them had on their necks – making his life difficult if they didn't behave. He said something about them ruining everything. I knew then that there was something going on between this local gang and Stewart. Something big.”

  Jack sighs, “I hate corrupt cops. I thought Williams was an outlier.”

  “Don't get me wrong,” replies Jane. “Most cops are good, but it's the dirty ones who make the rest of us look just as bad.”

  “What happened next?”

  “I knew I couldn't do anything without proof, so I played along. When he came back to the car, I just didn't ask. He said something about confiscating their knives and that sometimes it was best not to make an arrest in order to keep peace in the neighborhood. I just agreed, even though deep down the thought made me sick.

  “I kept my eyes and ears open after that. One day I noticed Stewart walking from the station building at the end of his shift and getting into a car with two detectives. I'd also finished my shift and so rushed down to my car and tailed them. They didn't see me, and eventually they turned straight into my beat neighborhood. When they stopped their car in an abandoned industrial estate outside of an old factory building with broken windows, I saw two figures come out to meet them. I recognized them immediately.”

  “Let me guess,” offers Jack. “Two of the guys Stewart O'Hara had let go after the restaurant incident. Sword tattoos and all.”

  Jane nods. “One of the detectives pulled a large package out from the trunk of his car and handed it to the gang members. They in turn gave him a sealed bag of what I instinctively knew was cash. It was a drug deal, pure and simple. Over time I started gathering information, tailing the detectives and my partner Stewart O'Hara. Eventually, I had proof that eight other officers and detectives in the area were involved.

  “I had more than enough to go to Internal Affairs with and have them investigated, but I'd picked up while listening in on various conversations that they were all working for a man named Robert Roe.”

  “That's an unusual name,” Jack observes.

  “Have you heard of John Doe before?”

  “Yes,” says Jack. “Isn't that the name they give to a body when no one knows its identity?”

  “Exactly,” replies Jane. “You've been watching enough detective films.”

  “Guilty as charged,” Jack laughs, but Jane responds with a smile; neither of them are in the mood to keep things light for long.

  After a moment of wistfully looking to the now pitch black surroundings of the countryside, the fields and hills now indistinct dark shapes in the bleak night, Jane returns her gaze to Jack. “Robert Roe is basically another name like John Doe. Sometimes it's used as a placeholder when we find a body and don't know who it is.”

  “So did you ever find out who this Robert Roe was?”

  “No,” Jane says, sighing again. “Whoever he was, it was a fake name to keep his real identity a secret. I knew it was someone important. My guess was someone higher up in law enforcement, who was running a drug ring with the local gang as their distributors. One day, I was finally caught by Stewart when tailing him. He pleaded with me to back off, but when I said I couldn't he told me that Robert Roe would kill me, and that was why Stewart was involved – because they had threatened to murder his younger brother.

  “I did believe him, but I also knew this couldn't go on any longer. I called Internal Affairs. After a long investigation, Stewart O'Hara and the other people I had proof of were all sent to jail on corruption charges. After that, no one at the station trusted me again. They thought I was a snitch, and on more than one occasion my life was threatened with an anonymous note left in my locker signed 'Robert Roe.' Eventually, I had to leave the city behind. My old captain at the station pulled one last favor for me – she got me a job at a small, out of the way sheriff department. And here I am. So much for this place being quiet, though.”

  Jack takes Jane's hand once more. “I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that, but I am so proud of you. You always do what's right, even if it's the hardest thing. Why can't we just put your past behind you and start fresh, me and you? Wild Cove isn't as bad as it seems.”

  “Jack, I know. I've grown to love this town. But before Bill Carpenter jumped off that building, he told me that Robert Roe was behind him making that broadcast about me. Now I'm suspended, being investigated, and I am certain that Robert Roe is now pulling strings to ruin me. It's like he’s trying to torture me, and I think he'll end my pain eventually by killing me. I can't put anyone I care about at risk. All I can do is wait for the investigation to finish, which I'm certain will find other evidence planted by Robert Roe, and then leave this town; maybe even the country.”

  Sitting for a moment, Jack's expression grows determined. “I think you're right. I do love you, Jane. And that's why I do think you should leave when you can. I'd rather you live elsewhere than risk your life here in Wild Cove. I'll do everything I can to help you.”

  They kiss, but Jane breaks down and asks Jack to leave. He protests, but Jane is always the more willful of the two and eventually he relents. Not before saying, “I will be here for you, no matter what. Just call.” He then gets in his car and drives back into the night.

  Jane watches as the headlights of Jack's car move off towards the rest of town, wishing she could call him back so that he can hold her, but she just won't risk his life. Robert Roe has now taken away her world, twice. As Jane stares out into the deep unknown, she knows she can't just take this lying down. Something will need to be done.

  Chapter 3

  For several days, Jane can’t stop thinking about her predicament. In the end, old habits are hard to break. She can't let go of the belief that with determination and ethics, she can find a way to fix things,
at least well enough so she can leave the town with her reputation intact. Romain told her to stay in Wild Cove, and that is what she is going to do. If she just so happens to ask a few questions around town about Bill Carpenter and Robert Roe along the way, then so be it. If she is going to lose her career over this, or worse, she wants to know why; and if she can bring down those responsible, even better.

  After borrowing an old blue Mustang Jack has been restoring – a patrol car is out of the question given her suspension – Jane begins her unofficial investigation of Bill Carpenter's death. Of course, Jack insists on coming with her, but other than lending her the car, Jane wants him as far away as possible out of the firing line.

  Her first port of call is to visit Bill Carpenter's closest work colleague, Gareth Murphy. Gareth lives in a trailer on the opposite side of town. The trailer sits on a piece of unused waste ground Gareth's family owns. The trailer is silver-gray in the shining sun, and it is clear that he takes care of it. After pulling up in Jack's blue Mustang Jane walks up to the trailer, but before she can knock on the metallic door, a trembling voice comes from inside.