“Will our father be in trouble?” Jayne asked. “Yost was shady and Yvette Salter, our bio-mom, was a piece of work, but I don’t think Jack Coker willfully did anything illegal.”
Carter was surprised it was Jayne rising to his defense instead of Paige.
Detective Lewis drummed his hands on the table and pursed his lips. After a moment’s thought, he said, “I need a statement from your father about his dealings with Yost,” he said.
Paige flinched. “As long as I don’t have to see him.”
The detective’s eyebrows lifted, but he didn’t say a word.
“You’re furious,” Carter said to Paige, when the detective walked out. He was more than a little surprised to see it.
She wrinkled her nose. “It’s awful. One minute I’m hurt, the next minute I’m livid.” She rubbed her temples. “This whole mess is wrong on so many levels. Dad could’ve done better. Jayne deserved better. I just keep spinning in circles. I need something to do.”
Catching one of her hands again, he gently disagreed. “I’m not so sure. Good people usually do the best they can. Sometimes it’s not enough.” He rode out the familiar wave of grief, as the face of the child he couldn’t save filled his vision.
That incident had changed the course of his entire life and yet, the events that followed equipped him to be here, right now, for her. He couldn’t imagine walking away once this case was done. Somehow she’d become as essential to him as those quiet sunrises on the water.
She gave his hand a squeeze. “That’s true. I’ll keep that in mind.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
He was about to offer more reassurance when Detective Lewis burst back into the room. “Yost fled. Not at the office, and not at his home address. Someone must’ve tipped him off.” His gaze locked on Jayne.
Paige surged to her feet. “Ronnie Lewis, stop that right now.”
He scowled at her. “Stop what?”
“I recognize that look,” she accused. “You think she’s tied up with Yost.”
“She’s been living off his money,” Lewis pointed out. “Maybe this is all an elaborate setup to squeeze the Coker family.”
Carter watched Jayne go pale as color suffused Paige’s face. He started to intervene, but decided Paige needed a target for her fury. He could give her a little room to vent.
“You stubborn fool,” she snapped. “Clearly your partner has all the brains.”
“Watch yourself, Paige,” Lewis warned.
Carter was thinking the detective should do the same. As he’d told Jack, he wouldn’t let either woman go down for a crime they didn’t commit.
“My sister didn’t do anything but follow a trail of breadcrumbs to her biological father. She was in that kitchen, trying to save herself. And when Melissa got shot, she tried to save her, too. Yost is your bad guy, not either one of us. Go get him.”
She sat down hard, as if someone had popped her like a balloon.
Carter watched the detective think it through. Time seemed to halt in that room while they all waited.
The detective crouched in front of Paige. “You’re sure?” he asked quietly.
“She’s not a killer any more than I am,” Paige replied fiercely.
Paige, her gaze locked with the detective’s, couldn’t see Jayne’s color come back and her eyes glistening with unshed tears. Carter would bet good money this was the first time Jayne had ever felt as though she had someone on her side.
“Okay,” Lewis said at last. “I’ll trust your intuition.”
Smart man. Finally.
He moved to a nearby chair, giving the twins plenty of space. “We just have to find him.”
“Not at home or the office,” Carter mused. “Did you ping his cell phone?”
“This isn’t my first day on the job,” Lewis groused. “It’s off.”
Carter didn’t waste time reacting to the jab. He was texting Jenna to search through the call history on Jayne’s number. Within minutes she’d texted back that she had the cell number for Yost and was pulling his financials and employee records around the time of the girls’ births.
For the next hour, the detectives alternated between the conference room with the twins and the interrogation room with the man who’d accidentally killed Melissa. Carter was about to insist on taking Paige to the safe house when Jenna’s email came in.
He read it once, then again before he called everyone back to the conference room. Together they went through the files Jenna had attached.
“Yost bought Yvette a house?” Jayne shook her head. “My mother had a knack for negotiation.”
“And he still owns it,” Carter pointed out. “My assistant tracked the GPS on his car there as of yesterday. Plus, check out the second witness signature on the contract. Virginia Trenholm. She was Yost’s secretary during the Coker adoption and stayed with him for years after.”
The detectives swiftly verified her current address and sent out a patrol team to bring her in for an interview.
“If he is hiding there, it’s only long enough to make an escape plan,” Jayne said. “The man’s a snake.”
“He has property in Italy and the resources to disappear quickly,” Paige said, studying the financial information. She shot Ronnie a wry look. “Better flag his passport.”
The detective smartly kept his gaze on the documentation. “We will. It’s protocol.”
A discussion began over how to bring Yost in and whether any judge would issue a warrant at this stage.
“I can go talk to him and try to get a confession,” Jayne offered. “I’ll wear a wire or use my phone to—”
“No,” Paige cut her off. “He’s already tried to kill you once.”
“You, too. But that’s my point,” Jayne countered. “I found him before. It’s logical that I’d find him again.”
The others, Carter included, debated that tack for a few minutes. A clean confession would go a long way here and they all knew it.
“Didn’t you say he thought you were Yvette?” Paige queried.
“At first glance, yes.” Jayne narrowed her gaze on her twin. “Why?”
“We should follow her example and negotiate new terms,” Paige said. “It’s what he’d expect from her daughters.”
The detectives debated how quickly they could put that together and who should go in. Carter didn’t like where this was headed. If Jayne got hurt, Paige would be devastated. But the only alternative was sending her. No. He gritted his teeth. The risks were too high.
“I’m doing it,” Paige announced. “End of discussion.” She held up a hand when both Carter and Detective Lewis protested. “Me. I won’t sit here like a spectator letting everyone else take the big risks.”
“Paige,” Carter warned. The man could have guns in the house, could hold her hostage, or do any of the other dreadful things dancing through his mind.
“Me,” she said again. “Final answer.” She turned to Detective Cruz. “Wire me up and let’s get this done.”