got the point. My father even fired it at him, but if it hit him we never knew. He left and has never been back.”
“I’m truly sorrow, Miss Pemberton,” Jaxon said. “The system failed you and I don’t know what to say. I feel like I let you down.”
“You did,” she said bluntly. Then dismissed it. “It doesn’t matter,” she continued, waving her hand at him. “All that’s in the past. What I want from you now is to not fail me again. You need to find this madman and stop him from hurting my daughter. Can you do that?”
“Yes, Miss Pemberton,” Victoria said. “We can.”
She looked Victoria up and down, and then nodded once.
“Where is he now?” Jaxon asked.
“My ex-husband? I don’t know and I don’t care.”
“You have no idea where he might be?”
“Why do you care? What do you two want from me today?”
“Ellie didn’t tell you about her father?” Victoria asked.
“What about her father?” Madison suddenly looked alarmed.
Victoria looked at Jaxon. Jaxon said, “Ellie got another message from the killer. He said he knows her father.”
She looked shaken. She sat back in her chair, deflated, her hand rising to her face, then stopping where it fluttered for a second and then sank to her lap.
“We need to find your ex-husband, Miss Pemberton. We need to find Leonard Worthington.”
“You can’t,” she whispered. She looked haunted and her eyes grew dark.
“We will,” Victoria said. “Whether you help us or not.”
“You can’t,” she said again. “You can’t, because he’s dead.”
They spent the next half hour getting the full story from Madison Pemberton and then made some hard decisions about her future. It only took a few minutes to decide. It was the right thing to do, and as Jaxon had learned in his years of police work, sometimes people just took things into their own hands and justice was served. Victoria felt the same way. She called Holt back and told him the Worthington thing was a dead lead and not to expend any more time and energy on it.
Jaxon could only hear one side of the conversation but Victoria told him what was said. Holt was curious as to what had happened but did not push it. She hinted it was something she would discuss with him later.
“Are you going to tell him?” Jaxon asked after she hung up.
“I think I’ll have to.”
“What will he do?”
“The same as us-look the other way.”
Jaxon wasn’t so sure. Holt seemed like a by-the-book kind of guy.
After Madison Pemberton’s revelation, they got her talking. Apparently her father had been a better shot with the shotgun than she had originally stated. During one of Worthington’s surprise visits, he became violent and would not leave. Her father broke the gun out and pointed it at him telling him to vacate the premises. Worthington refused and charged the man. He fired the weapon. It took two shots to bring him down.
The father took complete charge of the situation and disposed of the body in a location Madison didn’t have knowledge of. No one missed him. His parents were dead and he had no brothers or sisters. Madison’s father died a few years later and the secret of his burial place died with him. Madison never learned what her father did with Leonard David Worthington.
Jaxon and Victoria talked and told her they would keep the information confidential unless they discovered she had lied to them. She thanked them and swore what she had told them was the absolute truth. Jaxon saw something in her eyes that had changed. The burden of her secret lifted from her shoulders and for the briefest moment she appeared happy. Then, when they mentioned they were going over to check on Ellie, the world came crashing back in on her and the strain of everything weighed her down again. Jaxon suggested she have a stiff drink.
As they were leaving she said, “My father was a good man. Please don’t tarnish his memory by glorifying my monster of a husband. My father was only protecting his daughter and grandchildren.”
Jaxon and Victoria believed her.
They were now parked in front of the Harrison house about to go in and check on the kids.
“Should we tell the girl anything?”
Victoria looked at him and said, “We could lie and tell her we checked him out and there was no way William Smith could know her father.”
“It’s partially true,” he said. “He could not know him if the man is dead.”
“It might make her feel better.”
He nodded. “Alright, we’ll be vague.”
They stepped out of the car and walked over to the uniformed officer parked in front of the house and talked with him for a few minutes. Everything had been quiet he said. The other car was over parked in the court behind the house watching the entrance to the backyard from the pool complex. Quiet there too.
They knocked on the door and were greeted by Mr. Harrison who looked a little relieved to see them.
“Thanks for stopping by,” he said, and opened the door for both to enter.
“How are the kids?” Victoria asked.
“Actually, pretty good. There’s a little tension in the air, but they had some friends over and have been pretty busy goofing off. Don’t challenge those two to an air hockey game,” he said. “They kicked my butt.”
Victoria smiled and looked relieved. “I don’t want to upset them but we have some news that might make her feel a little better. Can we talk to them?”
“Ok-I’ll find them.” He left to search the kids out.
Jaxon and Victoria sat in the living room, and the kids walked in together a minute later. The girl looked much better and the boy beamed beside her. They sat on the couch next to each other, holding hands again, and waited expectantly.
“You guys look happy,” Victoria said. “Have you had a good day today?”
They both smiled and nodded. “Well, except for this morning,” Luke said, looking a little somber now.
“Good,” she said. “I’m glad. Ellie, we found some information that might make you feel a little better.”
Jaxon watched the girl who looked at them warily. She didn’t trust them yet, and Jaxon didn’t blame her. She’d been through a lot and probably had doubts about life in general. Her perspective had grown up a lot in the last few months and she was getting an above average dose of adulthood tossed her way.
“What is it?” Ellie said.
“We tracked down information on your father and there is no way William Smith could know him.”
“What kind of information,” Ellie asked, and this surprised Jaxon. He expected her to just take their word for it. Victoria never faltered.
“He is nowhere near us and hasn’t been for some time,” Victoria said.
“Where is he?”
Victoria looked at Jaxon. He had nothing to offer. Maybe this had been a mistake.
“Can you just take our word for it right now?” Victoria offered. “I know it’s confusing for you, but just trust us.”
She seemed to accept this and nodded her head and sighed. “Well, that’s good,” she said. “That does make me feel a little better. The killer’s still out there though, right?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Jaxon said. “But we’ve got you well protected here, and I know he won’t try anything. Besides, he doesn’t know you’re here.”
“I hope not,” Luke said.
“We will still pretend like he does and keep a couple of officers parked in front and back,” Victoria said. “Does that make you feel safe?”
She nodded hesitantly.
“What is it, sweetheart?” Victoria asked.
“He’s smart,” she said. “He always seems to know what’s happening.”
“It appears that way at times, doesn’t it?” Victoria said. “What if Detective Jennings and I stayed in the
