crossed Millstone’s path. And she couldn’t think of anyone else that she’d rather share this moment with than Sam—a woman who’d risked her life to save a friend.
“You know, Sammie. Nothing says ‘I love you’ more than running into hell for a friend. Hallmark doesn’t make a card that says ‘I’d die for you,’ but maybe they should.”
“I didn’t run into a burning building thinking I was gonna die, Jessie. I only wanted you to live.”
Despite all they’d been through tonight, Jess had to smile. “The only good thing that ever happened here… was that I met you.”
She put her arm around her friend and watched as Danny Ray Millstone’s mansion burned to the ground. Jess felt the heat radiating on her skin, heat that would purge away only a fraction of her ordeal. In her heart she knew her nightmare would never end—the psychological wounds had cut too deep and would remain—but seeing Millstone’s legacy go up in smoke had given her closure to a part of her life she wanted to forget.
Like the phoenix from Greek mythology, she felt reborn to a new life she had earned, rising out of the ashes of her degradation—a resurrection that would be forever grounded in pain.
People say that whatever doesn’t kill a person makes them stronger. But for her that wasn’t much consolation when the lesson came at a price she never wanted to pay.
CHAPTER 29
Next morning
After she and Alexa made their formal statements to the police, Jess convinced Sam to let them observe part of Jake’s interrogation from behind a two-way mirror. Ray joined them. In a dark room, they watched as Jake went through the motions. His arrogance was gone, replaced by his fear of an unknown future. He looked pale under the lights and slumped in his chair like a whipped dog.
But Jess hadn’t felt sorry for the bastard. She had come to the police station for answers, especially where Seth’s
Yet her relief over his good news was tainted by the fact that Pinzolo had become Mr. Teflon.
“It’s too early for this.” Alexa took another gulp of coffee.
“Yeah, tell me about it.” Ray heaved a sigh, clearly not happy with the situation. “Pinzolo lawyered up. But we didn’t have enough to file charges on him anyway. We cut him loose this morning. And Jake is too stupid to see that using the same lawyer isn’t in his best interest.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.” Jess grimaced.
“Wish we were,” Sam added. “And whatever intimidation game Pinzolo played on Jake is protected under attorney-client privilege.”
“This is insane,” she ranted. “What happened to Jake’s story…the one he told me? He could be a witness for the DA against Pinzolo and his boss.”
“That’s why I think Jake was played,” Ray clarified. “He kept his mouth shut until his lawyer showed. The next thing we know, he’s saying that he killed Desiree because he found out she was still seeing her ex-boyfriend.” He turned toward her. “And when he got wind off the street that you wanted to question Jade, he decided to kill her. He’s in there making his formal statement now.”
“So why frame Harper?”
“He claims Harper was set up out of pure meanness. A fit of jealousy over the time he spent with Desiree. The kid smacked of money, and he wanted to put him in his place.”
“No, no way.” She crossed her arms, shifting her gaze between Ray and Sam. “This wasn’t a crime of passion about jealousy. Hell, Jake’s no Casanova. And like I said, he told me Mandy found out about a business he was running on the side…right under the devil’s nose. Now I can’t see him taking on Beladi and Pinzolo alone, but then again, stupidity is more Jake’s speed.”
“I second that.” Alexa raised a finger.
“Hey, I believe you two,” Ray said. “But he hasn’t corroborated Jessie’s version of the story. And a written confession aces any rendition of ‘he said she said.’ Not that it matters, but did anyone else hear Jake confess?” He pointed to Alexa. “Did you?”
“Sorry. Can’t help you. I was down for the count,” the blonde said. “But even if I was willing to lie—which I do quite well by the way—it wouldn’t add up to much with dick-for-brains in there willing to confess.”
Jess clenched her jaw to temper the rage churning in her belly.
“She’s right.” She glared at Jake in the next room. “Max won’t make a credible witness, and no one else but me heard Jake. Plus, I’m guessing any good defense attorney would say my relationship with Harper is plenty of motivation for me to accuse someone else.”
“If we can’t get Jake to turn state’s evidence against Beladi and Pinzolo, then Sal will walk away from this a free man.” Sam sighed. “Nothing definitive places him inside that house. And without a real confession from Jake, we can’t pin those murders on Pinzolo as an accomplice either.”
“This smells like a cover-up, but I’m missing pieces to the puzzle.” Jess shook her head. “Someone had to lock us inside that room. The door was bolted from the outside. That’s attempted murder. And my gut tells me Pinzolo set that fire. What about an arson charge?”
Now she was grasping at straws, scheming for any way to lock Pinzolo up.
“The arson investigator is our next stop.” Sam nodded. “He’s giving us his preliminary findings. Very unofficial. But maybe he’ll give us something meaty to chew on. I’ll let you know. Call me later.”
“Yeah…thanks.” She nodded.
“Oh and before I forget,” Sam added. “A private investigator, Luis Dante, came in to file a report…said you stole his car. When he heard what happened, he dropped the charges. But he told me to say that you owe him a beer. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah…sort of,” she muttered. “Thanks, Sam.”
Rapt in thought, Jess left the observation room with Alexa, heading for the parking lot. Sal Pinzolo walking away clean made her skin crawl. She’d faced him before and witnessed his cruelty, especially when he had the advantage. She’d have to watch her back. Next time, he wouldn’t settle for a beating.
“Well…one good thing might come of this,” Jess observed with a sideways glance.
“Oh, yeah. What’s that?”
“Jake will be out of the gene pool.” She shrugged. “Darwin’s theory is intact.”
Alexa raised an eyebrow. “I feel better already.”
Sam walked into the meeting room with Ray, noticing that another man stood in the far corner, waiting for them to arrive. Dressed in uniform, arson investigator Captain Joe Collins, was a tall, lean man with alert blue eyes and short-cropped dark hair, cut military style. By reputation, he was a quiet man and an unconventional thinker with a penchant for details. Good qualities for an investigator.
“Good morning, Captain. Glad you could make it.” She smiled. “I’m Detective Sam Cooper, and this is Detective Ray Garza.”
Sam liked him the instant he shook her hand with a firm grip, not the limp grasp some men thought women preferred.
“Call me, Joe.” A corner of his lip curled into a half smile.
“First names work for us, too,” she said, offering the man a seat at the conference-room table. They sat as she began. “I know this is much too early in your investigation to make this official, but anything you can tell us might help move our case forward.”
“Well, bottom line, nothing I found thus far points to arson,” the captain said. “To put out the blaze, fire did their basic surround and drown, lots of water dumped. And as you might imagine, any trace evidence got hit with it, too. I used arson dogs to detect the use of accelerants, and they came up empty. But let me ask you a question… since you were inside.”
“Yeah…shoot.” She nodded.
“Was there any room in the house that seemed like the source of the blaze…an area that was more engulfed in flames than the rest of the house?” the man asked.
“Yeah, toward the back on the first floor, near the room that had been bolted shut.” She crossed her arms
