On the Line (5 page)

Nathan suppressed a shudder. Even though she’d been married to that man for nearly
ten years, he still hated hearing Janelle referred to with Richard’s last name. Especially
now that he was dead.

“Well?”

Nathan met his captain’s glare and nodded. “Yes, sir. Janelle and I did have a brief
affair.”

“I try not to get involved with my officers’ personal lives, but what you do
on
the
clock is my business. Did this happen at any point while you were on duty?”

Nathan searched his memories. “It’s probable.”

“I should think so.” Captain Little turned around and folded his arms across his
chest. “The man had pictures of your squad car outside of the residence he shared
with his wife and outside of her sister’s residence where she now lives.”

“I can explain.” Nathan rose and walked around his chair. He placed his hands on
its back and stared at the captain. “Janelle and I grew up together and have been
friends for a long time. Yes, several years ago, before the affair began, I would
occasionally visit her at home while I was on my lunch break. Nine times out of ten,
though, my mother was there visiting her as well, so I’m sorry but I didn’t think
that visiting a friend on my lunch break was a big deal.”

“It is when you’re in an official police vehicle, Harris.” Captain Little walked
to the front of his desk and leaned against it. “That explains the pictures in front
of Mr. Wagoner’s home, so how do you explain the most recent pictures?”

“Mr. Wagoner attacked Kelsey Morgan in her home in December,” Nathan started.

Captain Little held up his hand. “Yes, I’m well aware of his criminal record. I’m
also aware of the fact that she filed a restraining order to prevent that from happening
again,” he stated calmly.

“That may be true, but it took us twenty minutes to arrive on the scene after she
called. And we both know that a restraining order won’t protect anyone if the person
it’s been filed against is determined to do them harm. Given the fact that Mr. Wagoner
kidnapped his son and nearly killed Miss
Morgan in that cabin last night, I would
wager it’s a pretty safe bet that, had the opportunity presented itself, he would
have done more harm to Miss Morgan, Mrs. Wagoner, or one, or both, of the children,”
Nathan said. His heart raced at the thought of Janelle or one of the children coming
to harm because they’d been left unprotected. It nauseated him that the worst had
very nearly happened.

“But why were you there, in a patrol car? You’ve been a detective for two years and
haven’t had a patrol car of your own for eighteen months.” Captain Little crossed
his arms as he stared at Nathan.

“Miss Morgan’s boyfriend happened to be at her home at the time of the incident in
December. When he had to leave, to ease his concerns, she asked me to help keep an
eye on her family. I felt like a patrol car would be more of a deterrent, and more
noticeable, than my personal vehicle.” Nathan shrugged and looked down at his hands,
his knuckles white as he gripped the back of his chair.

He’d known he wasn’t completely following the rules when he’d borrowed the car. But
asking an on-duty officer to perform a stakeout every day would have been bending
the rules a bit too much. When he’d been asked why he needed the car, he’d fibbed
a little and told them it was for surveillance for a case. Given his seniority on
the force, no one had questioned him further. He’d hated not telling the whole truth,
but the knowledge that he was doing it to protect Janelle and the children had always
prevented him from feeling guilty.

“Did you do that during your shift?” Captain Little questioned.

“Occasionally,” Nathan answered honestly.

If Richard had been predictable, only showing up to torment his wife at the same
time each day, or each week, it would have been easier for Nathan to schedule his
stakeout. But Richard’s behavior had become erratic and progressively more violent.
Because of that, Nathan had been hesitant to let Janelle and the kids remain unprotected
for long stretches of time.

Captain Little rose, walked around his desk, and began to pace. Nathan counted three
complete back and forths before the captain spoke again.

“Did it ever occur to you that while you were protecting your mistress and her family
that your services, and the squad car you were inappropriately
using, could have
been used better elsewhere? If I’m not mistaken, you have three cases you’ve been
working on for the past four months.” Captain Little’s stern voice began to increase
in volume. “Three other domestic dispute cases that should have been wrapped up already.”

“And I have been working on them. All I need to do is file the paperwork.” Nathan
held his palms up.

“It should have been on my desk months ago. You, yourself, told me when you got the
reports that they were open-and-shut cases. This behavior is unacceptable, Detective.
You’ve let your personal relationship with this woman come before your job. A job
in which you took an oath to serve and protect
everyone
, not just the woman you’re
sleeping with and her family.” The captain was practically yelling now.

“But—” Nathan began.

“No! There are no ‘buts.’ This is disappointing to say the least.” Captain Little
inhaled deeply, stopped pacing, and glared directly at Nathan. “You leave me no choice.
You’re suspended without pay, pending an internal investigation into your recent
behavior and your involvement in yesterday’s incident.”

The air rushed from Nathan’s lungs, and he sat on the arm of the chair. How could
this be happening? All he’d meant to do was keep her safe. “I wasn’t involved in
yesterday’s incident, and I have the investigation to do for it.”

“No, I’m afraid you don’t. You’re off the case, and any witnesses you’ve interviewed
will have to be re-interviewed by someone else. Turn in your badge and sidearm.”
Captain Little slid an empty, white plastic basket across the desk. Nathan stared
at it as if he hadn’t heard what he was supposed to do with it.

He looked up at his captain and anger bubbled up inside him. “Are you kidding me?
This is ridiculous.” He shook his head. “If you want me off this one case, then I
won’t be involved in it, but you’re seriously going to suspend me? For what? For
protecting a woman and her children from her abusive estranged husband? Isn’t that
my job?”

“No, it’s not. It’s your job to follow the rules of this department, which don’t
include taking a spare squad car and having a stakeout without following protocol.
Your
job
, Detective, is to investigate cases of domestic dispute that
span the entire
county, not just one family,” Captain Little roared. “Now turn in your badge and
your firearm before I permanently suspend you for insubordination.”

Nathan clenched his jaw as he pulled his badge out of his pocket and tossed it into
the basket on the desk. He took his gun and holster off and laid them in the basket
beside his badge. As he turned to leave, Captain Little called to him. Nathan slowly
turned to look at his boss.

“One more thing. Until these investigations are over, it would be in your best interest
to stay away from Mrs. Wagoner and her family.”

Nathan opened his mouth to argue but the captain continued, “All of them. This has
to be a fair investigation. There can be no possibility of your influence on their
statements or the potential for tampering with the evidence we find.”

“I would never do that,” Nathan said, offended that Captain Little would even consider
that.

“I don’t doubt that. However, the fact that you had an affair with Mrs. Wagoner leaves
you both open to potential repercussions for your actions.” Captain Little walked
to the window again and, with his fist grasped behind his back, turned to look at
Nathan. “Stay away from them all for both of your sakes.”

Nathan held his stare as the captain’s words sank in.

“Nathan, I’m not just saying this as your boss,” the captain added. “There may be
more than just your job on the line here.”

Captain Little turned his back on him, and Nathan slowly walked out of the office
in a daze.

His first instinct was to go back to the hospital to see Janelle. He wanted to tell
her what had just happened to him, especially the captain’s last warning. He needed
to talk to her about Zoe. He had so many questions he needed to ask her.

But he couldn’t do any of that. Richard had managed to find a way to come between
them, even after his death.

Not that it mattered anyway. He couldn’t be certain that Janelle would want to see
him. For the past few months, he’d gotten no indication from her that she still felt
anything for him. Sure, she’d welcomed him into her home, allowed him to play with
the children, and treated him like he belonged
there. But she’d kept him at a distance
whenever they were alone. They hardly ever talked anymore. He’d noticed, but had
brushed it off as stress about Richard and the divorce.

To make matters worse, he needed to figure out what
he
wanted. Since the affair had
begun, he’d always held out hope for them. Even after she’d ended it with him, he’d
never given up that one day she’d be strong enough to leave her husband. At the moment,
he couldn’t help but question their future. She’d lied to him when he’d found out
she was pregnant and she’d said the baby wasn’t his. She’d continued to keep the
truth from him after her separation. Could she be trusted to tell the truth now?
Or in the future?

Now, if he understood the captain’s final words correctly, there was the possibility
that he could be linked to Richard’s death. He couldn’t stomach the idea of Janelle
being put through anything more because of that man. But apparently the best way
to protect her would be for him to stay away from her until this investigation was
over.

He just hoped it wouldn’t take long.

Four

“I really don’t want to be here,” Janelle said with a sigh as she slammed the door
of her minivan and ran her hands through her shoulder length, sandy-colored hair.

“I really don’t blame you.”

Janelle looked across the hood of the vehicle at Kelsey’s friend, Veronica Madison.
Veronica had starred in the movie that Kelsey and Patrick had filmed last fall. She
and their other co-star, Grayson Reynolds, were with Kelsey at the premiere party
for their movie when Janelle had frantically called her about Richard taking Zach.
With Patrick, they had followed Kelsey and had been staying in her home ever since.

“You didn’t have to come,” Janelle stated.

Veronica gave her a slight smile as she walked around the front of the van. “I know,
but I wanted to.”

“You mean Patrick suggested it.” Janelle rolled her eyes. Since they’d had the talk
four days ago in the hospital regarding the paparazzi, Janelle had been a little
more aware of her surroundings. She’d also noticed the extra vigilance Grayson and
Veronica were giving to their surroundings since their return from visiting Kelsey
two days ago.

That had only made Nathan’s absence all the more noticeable.

She’d expected him to come back to the hospital for her. She had been hoping he would;
she wanted to talk to him about everything that had happened between them. She’d
wanted to explain her actions regarding Zoe and her marriage. She only hoped that
if she ever got the chance, he’d understand and forgive her.

At the moment, she was not confident that would be the case.

He hadn’t returned her calls. He hadn’t been by the house. He had made
no effort
in four days to have any contact with her or his newly discovered daughter. It physically
hurt her to think that she’d driven him away for good.

Once she left this funeral, maybe she’d try to track him down herself.

“Actually, no. No one asked us,” Veronica’s chipper voice brought Janelle back to
the moment. She’d forgotten the perky, young blonde was with her. “But Grayson and
I talked about it and decided that, since Kelsey couldn’t come with you, we couldn’t
let you go it alone. And given where we’re going and the revelations the recently
deceased made regarding your affair, we thought it would be better if I came with
you.” Veronica smiled as she stopped beside Janelle. “I promise to be on my best
behavior, even if I think your ex-husband was one of the lowest life forms on the
planet.”

Janelle tried to laugh at that comment, but couldn’t quite muster it. Yes, Richard
had been a despicable man in the end, but he hadn’t always been that bad. She liked
to think she never would have married him if he had been. It was the memory of the
man she’d loved a long time ago that brought her here now, to his funeral.

“You’re probably right,” Janelle quietly agreed. “Let’s get this over with then,
shall we?”

Janelle turned and led Veronica toward the door of the funeral home. She’d waited
to arrive as late as she could in the hopes of slipping into a pew in the back of
the chapel as the service started, and slipping out again as soon as it ended. Janelle’s
jaw dropped when she saw that the line stretched from the chapel, through the lobby,
and almost to the door she had just entered. She groaned inwardly. There went her
chances of going unnoticed.

The number of people there to pay their respects to the man she’d been married to
shocked her to her core. She received a few disapproving looks from people she’d
known her whole life. Some of the frowns came from people who had known Richard in
high school, when he was the life of the party and so charismatic he could charm
a smile from a snake without even trying. But most of these people hadn’t seen him
since. Their scorn washed over her like a hot wave of anger and embarrassment.

They had no idea of the man Richard had become in the fifteen years since they’d
seen him last. They didn’t know the mental and psychological toll his addictions
had taken on him. She had barely recognized him in the end, physically or emotionally;
she imagined most of these people wouldn’t
have been able to point him out in a crowd.
And those that had seen him since probably never knew of his alcoholism. To Janelle’s
knowledge, he’d kept that secret to himself.